Australia faces an unprecedented winter for respiratory illness this year, with three key respiratory viruses circulating simultaneously, doctors and scientists warn. 

Leading virologists and infectious diseases physicians say respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), COVID-19 and influenza will be circulating together and that outbreaks may be bigger than usual. 

Pandemic lockdowns and travel restrictions disrupted both the seasonal pattern and the genetics of RSV over the past two years, with novel strains emerging and others becoming ‘extinct’, a team of researchers has found.

RSV seemed to be returning to its normal winter pattern after widespread outbreaks during the spring and summer months in 2020-21, with a sharp rise in cases in recent weeks, said virologist Dr John-Sebastian Eden.