VACCINATION rates have bottomed out, reaching an unprecedented low with rates of whooping cough the worst for the past decade and the recent pneumococcal outbreak the worst in 20 years.
Last week it was announced that Queensland was grappling with an unprecedented outbreak of whooping cough, with the deadly disease recording alarming rates.
There were 14,783 cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, in Queensland in 2024 according to Queensland Health – 16 times the 928 infections of 2023.
The 2024 total was also higher than the 11,868 cases recorded in the decade from 2014 to 2023.
Infectious disease director Professor Paul Griffin said while whooping cough outbreaks happened every three to five years, the latest increase was out of the norm.
The National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, in its latest annual report, found vaccine coverage rates among children had fallen for the third year in a row.
In Queensland, 90.8% of one-year olds were vaccinated against whooping cough as of September 2024 – down from 94.4% at the end of 2018, according to Queensland Health.
The number of pregnant women vaccinated against pertussis has also fallen, from 77.2% in 2020 to 70.7% in 2023.
The whooping cough vaccine, is available for free under the National Immunisation Program during pregnancy, for children aged 2, 4, 6, and 18 months – and for adolescents aged 12-19.
Rates of pneumococcal disease – a life-threatening bacterial infection that can attack the lungs, brain, and bloodstream – have hit a 20-year high, according to national notifiable disease data.
The Immunisation Foundation of Australia last week revealed that more than 4500 cases of severe pneumococcal, have been recorded in the last 24 months – the highest rate of diagnoses since 2002.
While only cases of invasive pneumococcal disease are recorded in Australia, the broader impact of pneumococcal is significant, with non-invasive infections leading to complications such as permanent hearing loss in children.
Paediatrician and Infectious Disease Researcher Professor Peter Richmond said the impact of the disease was great and spanned across age groups.
“For every confirmed case of invasive pneumococcal disease, there are hundreds of non-invasive infections such as bronchitis, sinusitis and middle ear infections that we don’t record and which leave children and the elderly suffering,” he said.
Once again, declining vaccination rates were a major issue, with childhood vaccination rates down from 93.3% in 2022 to 92.8% last year in one-year-old infants.
