Meningococcal disease: Thousands of NSW kids exposed, no free vaccine available
EXCLUSIVE: THOUSANDS of kids across NSW were exposed to a deadly new strain of meningococcal disease because there is no free vaccine available.
NSW
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THOUSANDS of children across NSW have been exposed to a deadly new strain of meningococcal disease because there is no free vaccine available to protect them.
Hospitals and GPs around the state have been put on high alert for the aggressive W strain of the killer bug, which has overtaken the C and B strains as the most prevalent.
Previously only people travelling overseas have been urged to immunise against the strain, and a vaccine had to be bought privately.
Australian Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy told The Daily Telegraph he was taking the nationwide emergence of the powerful new strain very seriously.
“In Australia there are generally only two strains of meningococcal disease — C and B — but there has been a noticeable increase in a previously rare third type, Type W,” he said.
“I have established a working group within the federal Health Department to look at the epidemiology and responses to meningococcal at the national level.”
Currently the only vaccine available on the federal government’s National Immunisation Program is for the C strain, which has declined significantly over the past decade since the jab was made available for free.
Immunisations for the B strain and a separate four-in-one vaccine — which covers the A, C, W and Y serogroups — must be bought privately and can cost $120 per dose.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee has rejected three applications to list the meningococcal B vaccine on the NIP, and claims it is yet to receive a submission for the four-in-one jab.
In a nationwide first, the West Australian government yesterday announced that all those aged 15 to 19 would be offered the four-in-one vaccine which protects against the powerful W strain as part of a three-year health program.
A spokeswoman for incoming NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said yesterday he would not comment on whether NSW would enact a similar program until after he was officially sworn in as minister.
Parents of children affected by meningococcal and the national advocacy group Meningococcal Australia have called for the alternate vaccines to become available immediately on the NIP.
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