00:00Meliodosis is caused by a bacteria that lives in the soil, and it's normally minding its
00:06own business, but these germs can come up to the surface with heavy rain or flooding.
00:12That contaminated mud, if it gets into even minor wounds or scratches, or even droplets
00:17that are inhaled, it can cause a severe infection, often things like septicemia, and puts people
00:25in hospital have a relatively high mortality rate of up to 20%, even with the best care.
00:31So there's a lot of concern about this disease.
00:34Of course, it's not the only germ that we call opportunistic, meaning that it takes advantage
00:41of older and sicker people who may have some problem with their immune system.
00:46So diabetes, heavy alcohol usage, other chronic heart, lung, kidney diseases, they're the sorts
00:53of people, and of course elderly, who can come down with this infection.
00:58So we've been putting out alerts, and also messages to the doctors and hospitals of what
01:04to look for.
01:05It can be treated with antibiotics.
01:07We can detect it with testing.
01:10But yeah, it's just an example of the very severe infections when older people are not
01:15necessarily taking basic precautions around, you know, wandering around in mud with bare
01:21feet is just not on when you're elderly and sick.
01:25This is one of the things that can happen.
01:26Yeah.
01:27I grew up in North Queensland, and I hadn't come across this before, before hearing it
01:32over the last kind of 10 or 20 years or so.
01:34Has it been something that their, like, awareness of it has grown recently, or have the number
01:39of cases actually increased significantly?
01:42Probably a bit of both.
01:44I think we are getting better at diagnosing it early, but possibly many years ago, a lot
01:49of people were dying, and maybe the reason wasn't known.
01:54The other strange thing about meliidosis is that it's very focal.
01:57Only certain areas, and you know, people are saying, well, is it the geology?
02:02Is it something about the soil in that area?
02:04But more likely, it's about peri-urban areas where a lot of people who are elderly, retirees,
02:12beachside, hamlets, where people are moving in, and often there's earthworks or renovations.
02:18There's a picture there of somebody using a high-pressure hose to clean up the mud.
02:22All of those sorts of things are risks.
02:24If you've got underlying diseases or anything wrong with your immune system like chemotherapy,
02:29that means that this normally pretty harmless germ would be able to take advantage.
02:36So that's why we're giving all of those messages out there saying, you know, take care.
02:41If there's a big clean-up going on and you're really medically fragile, your job is to make
02:46the sandwiches, not to get out there.
02:48You've mud all over you.
02:49You know what I mean?
02:49And there are plenty of good people who do that in North Queensland.
02:52So where have the latest cases come up, and how are the people doing?
02:57Are they all in hospital?
02:58Yeah, it's very interesting.
03:00The recent four cases, in fact, five that we've had in the Mackay area, are all in hospital
03:07getting intravenous antibiotics.
03:09Last wet season was a record in the northern suburbs, the beachside suburbs of Townsville,
03:15and further up the coast in the southern suburbs of Cairns, where there's been a lot of road
03:20building on the Bruce Highway.
03:21So that combination of heavy rains, soil disturbance, and then older, sicker people who aren't necessarily
03:30doing the things your mother would have told you about how to manage minor wounds.
03:34You know, put on some boots, wear gloves.
03:37And if you've got a scratch, even a minor scratch, don't get it contaminated with mud.
03:42Wash it carefully.
03:43Put on an antiseptic and a waterproof bandage.
03:46And if it's looking angry, get straight to your doctor.
03:48Yeah.
03:48And so what are the symptoms that people should look out for?
03:52Well, beyond a potential wound infection, people can come down with a fever.
03:57They'll feel very unwell.
03:58They might have nausea, vomiting, headaches, feeling confused.
04:03Some people collapse, and whatever their underlying disease, heart, kidney, lung disease, that will
04:10immediately go out of control as well.
04:11So these are generally quite sick people by the time they're picked up, and that's why
04:16they need care in a hospital.
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