Teenagers will soon be able to receive a free meningococcal vaccine which covers four strains of the deadly disease.
The meningococcal A, C W and Y vaccine will be added to the National Immunisation Program (NIP) in April next year, with the shot free for students aged 14 to 16 years under a school-based program.
Adolescents aged 15 to 19 years, who haven’t already received the vaccination in school, will be able to get the shot through a GP-based catch-up program.
More than one million Aussie teens are expected to get the free meningococcal A, C, W and Y vaccine under the $52 million program.
Although relatively rare, meningococcal is a very serious infection that occurs when meningococcal bacteria from the throat or nose invades the body.
The announcement of the free vaccine for teens comes following a spike in both invasive and fatal meningococcal cases in Australia.
There were 382 cases reported in 2017, up from 252 in 2016 and 182 in 2015.
Deaths associated with meningococcal have also increased, with 28 fatalities in 2017. There were 11 deaths in 2016 and 12 deaths in 2015.
Those lucky enough to survive the disease can suffer devastating effects, including loss of arms and legs, deformed arms and legs, scars, deafness, blurred vision, learning difficulties and headaches.
Federal health minister Greg Hunt has urged parents to have their teenagers vaccinated.
The program’s announcement comes after the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) advised to list the meningococcal A, C, W and Y vaccine on the NIP for adolescents.
Meningococcal Australia has been pushing to have strain B vaccines, currently between $120 and $155 per dose, made available for free.
For more details about the free meningococcal vaccine, click HERE
