Australian children under the age of two are at risk of contracting pneumococcal disease as the country battles the worst outbreak in 20 years.
There have been 4,500 cases of pneumococcal disease including meningitis, septicaemia and pneumonia since the start of 2023 – marking the highest annual rate since 2002.
Pneumococcal meningitis is a life-threatening infectious disease that causes inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord.
The Immunisation Foundation of Australia (IFA) warned there could be a deadly jump in cases in 2025 if new vaccines targeting more deadly strains of pneumococcal failed to be fast-tracked by the federal government.
The new vaccines have been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and recommended by both the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.
However, they remain unfunded through the National Immunisation Program.
Carly and John Goya lost their six-month-old daughter Mabel to pneumococcal disease in September 2021.
They believe Mabel would still be alive if the vaccine was available three years ago.
Six-month-old Mabel Goya (pictured) died from pneumococcal disease in September, 2021 (Mabel is pictured with her parents and older sister)
Mabel spent a week in ICU before her parents made the heartbreaking decision to switch off their daughter’s life support. The six-month-old is pictured with her mum Carly Goya
The Goya’s had been enjoying a family day out when Mabel started to show signs of distress in the evening and began vomiting.
Her parents took the six-month-old to hospital the following morning and she was treated for dehydration and monitored overnight.
Mabel was diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis and within a few days had suffered severe brain damage.
The six-month-old spent a week in ICU before her parents made the heartbreaking decision to switch off their daughter’s life support.
‘We made the decision to take out the breathing tube and take out all other tubes, apart from the morphine to stop any pain,’ Ms Goya wrote.
‘The pain and torture of watching our daughter continue to breathe for 15 hours, before she passed away in the morning of the 22nd of September, is utterly indescribable.
‘No parent, or child, should have to bear this.’
Ms Goya said the vaccine would provide protection against seven additional strains of the disease, including the one that proved fatal for Mabel.
Pneumococcal meningitis (pictured) is a life-threatening infectious disease that causes inflammation of the layers that surround the brain and spinal cord
‘It is crucial that new vaccines, specifically the new pneumococcal vaccine, are funded and added to the National Immunisation Plan,’ she told the Courier Mail.
‘Pneumococcal meningitis leads to incredibly devastating consequences and is very easy for medical professionals to misdiagnose.’
Carly and John are now parents to eight-month-old triplets Edie, Owen and Augie.
They started the Mabel Olive Airi Foundation to honour Mabel’s life and raise awareness of pneumococcal meningitis.
Catherine Hughes, the founder and director of the Immunisation Foundation of Australia founder called for the new vaccines to be rolled out through the National Immunisation Program urgently.
‘We simply can’t risk not having the best available pneumococcal protection,’Ms Hughes said.
Daily Mail Australia contacted the Department of Health and Aged Care for comment.
