Worst disease outbreak in 20 years strikes Australia – what you need to know
Australian children under the age of two are at risk of contracting pneumococcal disease as the country faces its worst outbreak in two decades.
Since the start of 2023, there have been 4,500 cases of pneumococcal disease, including meningitis, blood poisoning and pneumonia – the highest annual number since 2002.
Pneumococcal meningitis is a life-threatening infectious disease that causes inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
The Immunization Foundation of Australia (IFA) warned that there could be a deadly jump in cases by 2025 if new vaccines against more deadly pneumococcal strains fail to be fast-tracked by the federal government.
The new vaccines have been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and recommended by both the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization and the Pharmaceutical Benefit Advisory Committee.
However, they are still not funded through the National Vaccination Program.
Carly and John Goya lost their six-month-old daughter Mabel to pneumococcal disease in September 2021.
They think Mabel would still be alive if the vaccine was available three years ago.
Six-month-old Mabel Goya (pictured) died of pneumococcal disease in September 2021 (Mabel is pictured with her parents and older sister)
Mabel spent a week in intensive care before her parents made the heartbreaking decision to stop their daughter’s life support. The six-month-old baby is pictured with her mother Carly Goya
The Goyas had been enjoying a family day out when Mabel began showing signs of anxiety and vomiting in the evening.
Her parents took the six-month-old baby to the hospital the next morning, where she was treated for dehydration and monitored overnight.
Mabel was diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis and suffered severe brain damage within a few days.
The six-month-old spent a week in intensive care before her parents made the heartbreaking decision to stop their daughter’s life support.
“We decided to take out the breathing tube and take out all the other tubes except the morphine to stop the pain,” Ms. Goya wrote.
“The pain and torture of watching our daughter continue to breathe for 15 hours before she passed away on the morning of September 22 is completely indescribable.
“No parent or child should have to wear this.”
Ms Goya said the vaccine would protect against seven additional strains of the disease, including the one that proved fatal to Mabel.
Mabel (pictured with her parents and older sister) was diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis and suffered severe brain damage within days
Pneumococcal meningitis (pictured) is a life-threatening infectious disease that causes inflammation in the layers surrounding the brain and spinal cord
“It is crucial that new vaccines, especially the new pneumococcal vaccine, are funded and added to the National Vaccination Plan,” she told the newspaper. Courier mail.
‘Pneumococcal meningitis leads to incredibly devastating consequences and it is very easy for medical professionals to misdiagnose it.’
Carly and John are now parents to eight-month-old triplets Edie, Owen and Augie.
They started with the Mabel Olive Airi Foundation to honor Mabel’s life and raise awareness of pneumococcal meningitis.
Catherine Hughes, the founder and director of the Immunization Foundation of Australia, called for the early rollout of the new vaccines through the National Immunization Program.
“We simply cannot take the risk of not having the best available protection against pneumococcal disease,” Ms Hughes said.
The Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler, told Daily Mail Australia: ‘The Albanian Government strongly supports immunization as a safe and effective public health measure to reduce the impact of many diseases in the community that can cause hospital admissions and serious ongoing health problems. or even death.’
‘The prevention and treatment of pneumococcal disease is a priority for the Albanian government.’
“Current pneumococcal vaccines available in the National Immunization Program (NVP) provide strong protection against pneumococcal disease,” Butler said.
‘The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ATAGI) is currently finalizing a review of the pediatric pneumococcal schedule to determine the best vaccines for the population.’
‘I have asked ATAGI to expedite this advice to the government. I am committed to ensuring Australian children have access to the best possible vaccines, as determined by the experts at ATAGI.”