WARY of side-effects or just sidetracked by a busy life, tens of thousands of Australian parents have fallen behind with their children's vaccinations.
In dozens of areas, more than 15 in every 100 children in certain age groups are at risk of spreading diseases like measles and whooping cough.
The National Health Performance Authority (NHPA) released data on Thursday that shows almost 77,000 out of about 900,000 one, two- and five-year-olds are not up to date. The biggest problem is among children aged five.
The most at risk, however, are those too young or ill to be vaccinated. A newborn child with whooping cough could die and is almost certain to need hospital treatment.
Diseases such as measles and whooping cough can spread fast, and vaccination rates need to be high to be effective.
For this reason, the earliest vaccination age for whooping cough has been brought forward to six weeks, to provide at least some protection.
The NHPA data prompted an outcry. One organisation called for vaccinations to be made compulsory. Another called for "sanctions" against people who spread misinformation.
NSW Greens MP John Kaye says parents are "falling prey to absurd and disproven voodoo claims and conspiracy theories".
However, the data shows the highest immunisation rate is at age two, with a relatively dramatic fall at age five. It is unlikely the voodoo claims are compelling enough to cause such a dramatic about-turn in three years.
It's more likely that parents just don't get round to having the vaccinations done on time. That's not ideal, even dangerous, but it's something the health authorities can work with.
"It is well known that vaccination rates decline as children get older. In part this is because contact between families and healthcare services often reduces after the first couple of years of life," says Dr Helena White, head of immunisation in the Northern Territory.
NHPA CEO Dr Diane Watson says it's a mystery why some areas have better immunisation rates than others with similar demographics.
"We see these trends in rural, regional and urban areas - in areas of high and low income and high education. We also don't yet know why rates are lower at age five than one and two."
NSW Director of Health Protection Dr Jeremy McAnulty says the main problem for five-year-olds is late immunisation. The next most important problem, he says, is people on the move inside Australia or overseas.
"Objection is probably the least important issue overall, but its impact can be high in some communities."
He says people who are behind should catch up as soon as possible.
Associate Professor Kristine Macartney, the deputy director of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, says 1.7 per cent of Australian are registered as conscientious objectors.
She agrees late vaccinations are a problem but says "those kids certainly do catch up".
NHPA sets a "tough benchmark" to encourage on-time immunisation, and Australians are doing well overall, she says.
"Australians have been very good at understanding how important immunisation is. There really is tremendous support for immunisation.
"This report shows us where we need to do better. But that's a good thing because it only benefits the children."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Busy parents are main vaccination glitch
Dengan url
http://flasdiskvirus.blogspot.com/2013/04/busy-parents-are-main-vaccination-glitch.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Busy parents are main vaccination glitch
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Busy parents are main vaccination glitch
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar