GP and meningococcal expert Dr Charlotte Hespe spoke with Medical Forum about the severity and risk of the latest meningococcal outbreak in Australia, and the need to roll out the vaccine to more people living in vulnerable areas.
“Just like the situation boosting the spread of many of the infections impacting Australia, we have a cohort of people that has not been exposed,” she said.
“While various parts of Australia obviously had more shutdowns, there was also a lot more protection against infections in place. Face masks were being worn and there was greater awareness of the need to maintain good hygiene.
For example, Australia has also seen the return of RSV as the nation emerged from COVID, driven by the return of air travel and exposure in early childcare settings and schools.
“However, there are currently two issues impacting the uptake of the vaccine: affordability – it is not a cheap vaccine – and we are often asking young families who have other key priorities in terms of finances these days, such as food and housing, to cover the cost. Doctors might not raise it with patients because they do not want parents to feel guilty about spending more money on a vaccine,” Dr Hespe pointed out.
“The other issue is value signaling: many families may look at the cost of an extra vaccine and go, ‘well, if it were that important, the government would fund it.”
Dr Hespe also raised the issue of vaccine hesitancy, where the online debate about the public benefit versus the personal benefit and potential harms of vaccination further complicated the issue for some parents.
“Yet while there are some people who are totally over vaccination, others are much more open to hearing about it, because they have had so many conversations about vaccines that they understand the importance of vaccination as part of a long-term healthcare plan,” she said.
Educating patients about the severity of the disease, its outcomes, and the potential level of care required for a person impacted by meningococcal was the soundest strategy for overcoming hesitancy.
“We know that in the worst-case scenario, a patient might end up deaf, they might end up losing some limbs or could even die. And if they do end up with multiple long-term disabilities, then there are significant associated costs for the rest of that person’s life,” Dr Hespe said.
“My learning from research and talking to families is that they would rather know and make the choice for themselves, rather than having somebody else make that decision for them out of a misplaced sense of compassion.”