00:01The Northern Territory is currently dealing with an outbreak of diphtheria, which is a
00:06vaccine-preventable disease. It comes in two forms. One is a cutaneous type of diphtheria,
00:13which causes sores or open wounds on the skin. The second kind is respiratory diphtheria,
00:19and that is the strain that has medical professionals in the Northern Territory particularly
00:24concerned because if it is untreated or if people are unvaccinated for it, it can cause severe illness
00:31and in some cases death. Speaking to the public health medical officer, Dr John Boffa from the
00:38Central Australian Aboriginal Health Congress in the Northern Territory, we were told that there
00:44has been one confirmed death of a young person in a remote community. The number of cases of diphtheria
00:51across the Northern Territory has continued to climb. There are now more than 120 confirmed
00:56cases. There are also more than 160 cases confirmed Australia-wide, so the majority of cases of diphtheria
01:05are occurring in the Northern Territory. Some cases have been confirmed in WA, Queensland and
01:12South Australia, and the Centre for Disease Control are looking into how the current outbreak has
01:19managed to take hold. The National Centre for Disease Control is looking into this very earnestly at the
01:25moment to try and understand what's happened. Why has diphtheria made this comeback? We certainly know
01:31it first was detected in North Queensland in 2020, and it has spread from there. This is exactly the
01:37same version of the bug that's in the Northern Territory. It's in Northern WA. It's in parts of
01:44South Australia. So we know that's when it re-emerged. We're not sure why. Is it because
01:49since COVID, unfortunately, there has been some reluctance for some people to get vaccinated?
01:54And in some parts of the country and in some parts of the territory, vaccination rates are not
02:00as high as they should be. The Centre for Disease Control indicates that the vast majority of cases of
02:08diphtheria are occurring in regional, remote or very remote areas, and the vast majority are also
02:14Indigenous. So NT Health and the Central Australian Aboriginal Health Congress are urging Territorians
02:21to check their vaccination status, particularly young adults and adults, because there is quite a high
02:27rate of vaccination through children. But there is a lag with people receiving those booster shots
02:33every couple of years. Dr John Boffer also said that federal support is on the way to the Northern
02:39Territory in the form of additional funding over the coming six months, and that's to assist in primary
02:45health care services to boost vaccination numbers in those vulnerable populations.
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