<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/09/it-is-a-tragedy-the-return-of-diptheria-in-australia>
"Following news this week that two children from northern New South Wales have
been diagnosed with diphtheria, a disease-fatigued nation is asking: what next?
There is also little surprise among many that once again, a region considered
the “anti-vax capital of Australia” should be the one incubating a bacteria not
seen in Australian children this century.
One of the unvaccinated children, a two-year-old, is being treated in the
intensive care unit of a Brisbane hospital, but in the child’s northern rivers
community, there is little urgency to vaccinate.
Medical centres in the region contacted by the Guardian say they have not
noticed any increase in vaccination bookings or requests for information, while
some parents say they are attentive but not worried.
Diphtheria is now extremely rare but was once a leading cause of death among
Australian children until the introduction of school vaccinations in 1932. It
is just one of 17 vaccine-preventable diseases targeted by the national
immunisation program for children and adults.
However, as of March 2022, just 87.3% of children aged five in the Northern NSW
health district were up-to-date with their vaccinations, the lowest rate since
September 2016 and well below the national average of 94.3%. Within that
district, the Byron shire reports 68.2% of one-year-olds are fully immunised,
compared with 94.9% across the country.
The Australian Department of Health, in its public information on
immunisations, says about 95% vaccination rates are required to achieve herd
immunity for many infectious diseases. In the case of pertussis (whooping
cough), for example, a much higher proportion of people need to be immunised to
get the protective effect of herd immunity compared with many other vaccine
preventable diseases."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
