Vaccines, like RSV (respiratory syncytial virus)

[frankieroberto]

RSV should probably always be spelled out as "Respiratory syncytial virus".

However even when spelled out, it's not commonly understood or well-known (lots of research showing this). Perhaps we need a standard way of describing what it is, eg "a common cause of coughs and colds"?

See:

• https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv/
• https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/rsv-vaccine/

[sarawilcox]

Yes, I find that people think it's a new disease and are unsure what RSV stands for.

[sarawilcox]

Looking at some other vaccinations with acronyms and some that need explaining.

[sarawilcox]

I'm asking the team who worked on the vaccinations hub on the NHS website if they've got any user needs or insights they can point me to.

[sarawilcox]

For NHS website content about vaccines, the team "identified a potential need for understanding what the vaccine is for, but this was a less common need than things like who it's for, how to get it, side effects etc. For some vaccines this didn't feel like crucial/useful information, but in most cases we do include this as the first section on the page (as per RSV)."

The NHS website vaccine content type guidance in Confluence - internal has "what its for" as a secondary aspect to be used whenever deemed useful.

The vaccine content type identifies these core and secondary aspects:

Core aspects

• overview
• who it's for
• how to get it
• contraindications
• side effects

Secondary aspects

• what it's for
• ingredients
• how its used
• effectiveness
• types