Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / The meningococcal B vaccination program has been extended in the NT- program lead Professor Helen Marshall tells us why it's so critical

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The meningococcal B vaccination program has been extended in the NT- program lead Professor Helen Marshall tells us why it's so critical · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Professor Helen Marshall. Good morning to you, Helen, Good morning Katie,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for your time this morning. Why has
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: the program been extended in the Northern Territory.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Oh, we certainly want to offer fourteen to nineteen year
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: olds the opportunity to be protect against meninga coocklebee disease.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: And obviously the project provides the vaccine free. It's normally
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: about one hundred and thirty one hundred and forty dollars
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: a dose if you buy it the private market through
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: getting a script from the GP, but the study offers
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: the vaccine free and we're really keen to have many
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: fourteen to nineteen year old take advantage of that. Certainly,
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  Speaker 2: COVID has you know, interrupted the program a bit, but
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: now that we're sort of getting back to business as usual,
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  Speaker 2: we hope it's much easier for people to take up
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: that opportunity.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Now. Obviously, the program has been running since twenty twenty one,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: so I'm assuming for around a year it has been.
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  Speaker 1: From all accounts, has it been taken up quite well?
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  Speaker 1: Have we had quite a few people, you know getting
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: their vaccine for manager cocklebe.
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  Speaker 2: Well, we've had about about twenty twenty two to twenty
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  Speaker 2: three percent of year ten eleven and twelve students taking
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: up the vaccine in schools. Obviously we'd like that to
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: be higher because you know, the opportunity will cease by
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: the end of the year and then of course people
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: have to pay the vaccine. And what we're seeing around
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  Speaker 2: the country is mini coocklebe appearing again. As I'm sure
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  Speaker 2: you know many of the listeners know, many diseases sort
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  Speaker 2: of went away a bit during COVID, but B is
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  Speaker 2: on the rise again. So there's been cases in Queensland.
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  Speaker 2: We've certainly had a case here, a thirteen year old
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  Speaker 2: with B disease here, So yeah, right, it's not surprising.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: It's not surprising because the mini cockle minion cockle disease
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: or the bacteria tends to follow influenza and we're seeing
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  Speaker 2: quite a big and severe influenza these and happening, so
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  Speaker 2: we're going to see more cases of bees. So that's
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  Speaker 2: so important that people get vaccinated well.
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  Speaker 1: And Helen, I know that there will be people listening
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: this morning who maybe don't know exactly what menainger cockle
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: bee is. I know that on this show a couple
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: of years back. We've spoken at lengths about the menager cockle,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: about menainger cockle and the terrible, terrible impact that it
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: can have. I spoke to a beautiful Territory mum who
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: lost her little girl, Skyler, after she'd had menager cockle.
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  Speaker 1: So it's something that we've spoken a lot about on
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  Speaker 1: the show. But for those out there listening who maybe
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  Speaker 1: don't have a real understanding of what menager cockle bee is,
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  Speaker 1: talk us through it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, sure, Look at it's a devastating infection. It's a
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  Speaker 2: severe infection, and it's a bacteria. So it's caused by
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: a bacteria, and this bacteria actually likes to sit at
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: the back of the throat and at about one in
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  Speaker 2: ten young people, the bacteria sits there and doesn't really
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: cause the problems, but for some reason, for say example,
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: maybe you have a cold and you can imagine in
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: your throat you get inflammation and you get some damage
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  Speaker 2: to the tissue there. The bacteria can actually invade into
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  Speaker 2: the blood stream and it can cause meningitis or it
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: can cause blood poisoning or sepsis. And the problem is,
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  Speaker 2: even if you diagnose it quickly and you get antibiotics
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  Speaker 2: on board quickly. There's still quite a high case, they
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: tell you rate, so that means that about one in
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: ten children will still die from this infection. And not
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: only that. If a child then survives infection, there are
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: a number of complications, so they can be blind, they
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: can be deaf, And what we see sometimes is because
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: of the complications, children need to have limbs or partial
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: limb amputations, because of death of the tissue, because of
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: the complications of that bacterial infection. And we know in
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  Speaker 2: South Australia we actually have a funded programer government funds
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  Speaker 2: up the program here because just as you've described, we
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  Speaker 2: had some terrible situations with toddler's dying from the infection
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  Speaker 2: and some of them having multiple limb amputations, which means,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the challenge is going through that sort of disability.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and I know after I had interviewed, you know,
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  Speaker 1: the mum who'd lost her a little one, I took
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  Speaker 1: my children straight out and went and got them vaccinated
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  Speaker 1: against beningjer coppa Bay. I know that there are a
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  Speaker 1: lot of there are a lot of families who are
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  Speaker 1: in a similar situation. But the fact is it is
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  Speaker 1: a very expensive vaccination to go and do out of
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  Speaker 1: your own pocket. So this program really is a great
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: thing for the Northern territory.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, Yeah, Helen.
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  Speaker 1: What have you learned so far from the program and
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  Speaker 1: and you know what learnings have been made that will
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  Speaker 1: hopefully help us in this space.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we look, we already know we've been looking at
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  Speaker 2: the young people in the study whether they're actually carrying
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  Speaker 2: the bacteria and we know that again about one in
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  Speaker 2: ten a carrying the bacteria. So you know, again so
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  Speaker 2: important to you know, to have the vaccine to protect
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: young people against the infection. We know that the government,
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: the comm of government do fund the vaccine for aboriginal
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  Speaker 2: infants as well because of their higher risk of minniacockle
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: be disease. What we're wanting to learn through this is,
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: through this study is to look at the impact of
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  Speaker 2: the minionkockle bee vaccine when you're vaccinating young people that
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  Speaker 2: they're protected against the disease. That we're also looking at
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  Speaker 2: those rates of people carrying it in the throat, and
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: we're also looking at this really interesting cross protection that's
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  Speaker 2: been shown in other countries around Gonerreea. So it may
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  Speaker 2: be that you're not only protect against nikocle bee disease,
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  Speaker 2: but also partially protect against gonoia because the bacteria are
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  Speaker 2: so closely genetically linked. And so that's our other interesting question.
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  Speaker 2: They're really just looking at over time, after we've finished
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: the study, we'll be looking at how rates of mini
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  Speaker 2: cocle disease and gonorrhea change in the Northern territory.
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  Speaker 1: All right, So at this point in time, if people
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  Speaker 1: do still want to be part of this study and
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  Speaker 1: part of you know, a part of what has been extended,
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  Speaker 1: they're still able to do so, are they They can
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  Speaker 1: register to be part of it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, absolutely, And so with the access to
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  Speaker 2: the vaccine is very much through the schools. So we
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  Speaker 2: have a group of great group of nursers team up
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  Speaker 2: there that can go out to the schools and have
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  Speaker 2: been going out to the schools, particularly ten, eleven and twelve,
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  Speaker 2: so the scene schools, but we're also now going to
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  Speaker 2: extend to middle schools. So please contact with school just
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  Speaker 2: to make sure that they are part of the study,
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  Speaker 2: and if they're not, please just ask the question why,
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  Speaker 2: and we can certainly link our team in with the school.
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  Speaker 2: But also out in remote communities, we're really hoping that
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  Speaker 2: our nurses can get out to as many of the
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  Speaker 2: remote communities as well, just to make sure that we've
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: got really good equity and that every fourteen to nineteen
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  Speaker 2: year old has the opportunity to be protected against minniacockle
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  Speaker 2: bee disease.
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  Speaker 1: Now, once you've had that vaccine, is it something that
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: you just have once? Do you need to have it again? Yeah?
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  Speaker 2: Good question. Is it two doses? So two doses two
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  Speaker 2: months apart. And because we're giving it at that age,
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  Speaker 2: the fourteen to nineteen year age group, when the rates
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  Speaker 2: are highest in that in the teenage years, that should
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  Speaker 2: provide enough protection through that high risk period which is
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  Speaker 2: not a fifteen to nineteen and then up to twenty four,
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: So we don't expect you would need to have another
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  Speaker 2: dose after that.
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  Speaker 1: And professor, why is that you know that we do
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  Speaker 1: the vaccine at that age and not when the kids
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: are quite young.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, really good question. So the incidence is actually
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  Speaker 2: highest in babies in infants at the moment, the vaccine,
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  Speaker 2: as I mentioned, is provided for aboriginal infants at that
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  Speaker 2: age because they have a six times higher risk than
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  Speaker 2: non indigenous babies. And then adolescence is another high risk period.
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  Speaker 2: And so particularly where we're interested in protecting against both
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  Speaker 2: meninger coocklebee disease and also going to be at this
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  Speaker 2: fifteen to nineteen year age group is the age group
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  Speaker 2: where o'veously chosen the study.
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  Speaker 1: I've no doubt that I will have some parents who
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  Speaker 1: are listening this morning thinking, you know, I've got children
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  Speaker 1: who are under the age of five or whatever age,
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  Speaker 1: and they're wondering whether they need to get their children
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: vaccinated against Meninginger cocklebay. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Look, I would be encouraging people to. As I said,
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  Speaker 2: I think we've got a flu, a nasty flu season
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  Speaker 2: that's already started and ahead of us, and I wouldn't hesitate.
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  Speaker 2: I just like you as soon as the vaccine was available. Privately,
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  Speaker 2: I have my three children vaccinated. They were more in
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: that adolescent age group. But you know, I think I
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  Speaker 2: think it's important. I think if we've got a disease
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  Speaker 2: that's this severe, then absolutely do what you can to
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  Speaker 2: have your infant or your young toddler or your teenage vaccinated.
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  Speaker 2: And obviously through the study, we can provide the vaccine
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  Speaker 2: free to the teenagers.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think that it is something that we should
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  Speaker 1: be looking at expanding like has happened in South Australia,
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  Speaker 1: where you know, maybe younger children as well are able
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  Speaker 1: to get it for free.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, look I think. I mean, what we've shown in
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  Speaker 2: South Australia is that the vaccine is highly effective both
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: infants and adolescents. It's about ninety six percent effective for
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: infants and one hundred percent effective for adolescents. So, you know,
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  Speaker 2: with that very high effectiveness protection against disease, you know,
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  Speaker 2: ideally we would have a program across.
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  Speaker 1: Australia well, Project lead Professor Helen Marshall. We really appreciate
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: your time this morning. Thanks so much for having a
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: chat with me about Menajer Kocklebee and about this program
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: there to is underway in the Northern Territory at the moment.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Katie, and thanks the invitation. Very
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: happy to give updates along the way too.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: That would be great. Thanks so much, we appreciate it.