Immunisation Foundation of Australia’s Director Catherine Hughes is calling on the Federal Government to fund RSV vaccines for all babies amid a spike in cases in the NT, with the jab currently costing $350

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, cases of life threatening of a life threatening respiratory
virus of skyrocketed in the Northern Territory and locals don't
have the option is what some do interstate to access
a subsidized JAB Now a report in the paper earlier
in the week saying that the vaccine costs three hundred
and fifty dollars a pop. Meanwhile, RSV it is the

(00:21):
most common cause of hospitalization for children aged under five
in Australia and it's already affected one thousand Territorians this
year from five hundred and ninety nine last year. Now
joining me on the line is Immunization Foundation of Australia
Director Katherine Hughes. Good morning to you, Catherine.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Morning Katie, Thanks.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
So much for your time this morning.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Catherine.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
First off, how prevalent is RSV.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
I see is one of the most common respiratory illnesses
that we have and both other year in Australia has
seen over eighty thousand cases around the country, Like you said,
one thousand in the Northern Territory. That's that's double what
we had last year. So it's very common.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, they're big numbers and you know, I think to
anybody that's either got little ones or have family that
have little ones, you know, nieces and nephews or friends.
It like, it does seem to be something that is
becoming more common. When my kids were a little sort
of ten to thirteen years ago, I didn't feel like

(01:28):
it was as prevalent at that point in time.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Well, I think, you know, a long time ago. Really
we were told it was bronchio ardis pneumonia, so it
must we were certainly around back then just as much
as it is now, But we didn't know. I guess
as parents what the bug was that was causing this
pneumonia and bronchiolardis and our little kids. So we are
seeing a lot of it now. Obviously we are testing
more for it, and we're more familiar now with this

(01:54):
RSV term. And you know, it's what sad Nearly twelve
thousand little babies to hospital every single year.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
And you know, there is there is nothing tougher than
seeing your little one gasping for air, and it is
you know, it is such a difficult, difficult thing. You know,
when your little ones do get really sick and something
like this RSV is it it's a really sort of
tough one to watch. And quite hard to deal with,

(02:21):
isn't it, Catherine?

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yeah, look, it's really traumatic. We had our daughter hospitalized
for two nights when she was just three weeks old,
and I think that was extra traumatic because we've actually
lost a child to a different respiratory infection eighteen months
earlier to hoop and class. So, you know, I've spoken
with so many families who have watched their little babies,
you know, being inch svated, turned blue, have collapsed lungs,

(02:47):
and some of them, you know, they get discharged from
hospital and they can recover okay, but others will have
long term respiratory issues like wheezing an asthma, So it
could be just really nasty and very traumatic for parents
to watch. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Look, I can't even imagine, you know how tough it
was for you as a family unit going through such
a tragic loss, and then watching your daughter, you know,
going through and trying to battle RSV. And you know,
the really sad part about it is you're certainly not alone,
are you. There are so many families that have had

(03:22):
to deal with this.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yeah, look, it impacts so many Australian families, Like I said,
nearly twelve thousand babies every year, around sixteen thousand children
every year, and it also impacts on older Australians which
as well, so it can affect people of any ages.
And it's just look, it's just something you don't want
your baby to have.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
And Catherine the you know, I guess the interesting part
about this is there is actually, you know, there is
the ability to get your child immunized against RSV, but
for some of us, and for us here in the
Northern Territory, it's not something that's currently subsidized.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
That's right. We're in this sort of new exciting era
of prevention where he else can actually prevent RSB in
infants and in older adults. But you know, there are
problems with access. So unfortunate I live in Western Australia.
If you live in Queensland, your baby can receive an
immunization at birth and that will protect them in that
first year of life from RSB when they're really really vulnerable.

(04:23):
But if you live in Northern Territory, Victoria, South Australia,
other states, you can't access this. And so I really
believe immunization should be funded federally and that all Australian
babies should access this immunization for babies. And then you know,
if you're an older adult, you can certainly purchase a
vaccine if you're aged sixty class, but it's really you know,

(04:47):
it costs over three hundred dollars and that's not affordable
for many Australians.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
It's truly not like we're battling through a cost of
living crisis at the moment. And you know, when you
think to yourself as a parent, you literally do anything
you can to try to keep each children safe. You know,
you would forego the majority of your groceries for a
week if it meant that you were able to actually
pay that three hundred and fifty dollars. And even for
our seniors that are potentially on a pension, you know,

(05:12):
you think they would like that is a huge, huge
chunk of your pension payment to be paying three hundred
and fifty dollars to get that immunization. I totally agree
with you. I think this needs to be across the
board available to all lossies.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
And we've just spent some time in Camber this week
with MPs and politicians and really advocated that we need
these vaccines on the National Immunization Program so that all
Australians can access at no cost.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
And what's been the response from the federal government in
this space, Catherine.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
They've been pretty receptive. You know, it won't happen in
time for this RSB season, you know, potentially in time
for next year, who knows finger class we will see
free access for RSD prevention.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
I mean, I know that I know that there'd be
a lot of parents listening this morning who are thinking,
if I can't afford to get that vaccine, what can
I do to try to sort of help to prevent
my child or even for seeing is from picking up RSV.
I mean, is there a lot that we can do?

Speaker 2 (06:16):
I mean, there's all the stuff that we were doing
during COVID, so the hand washing, you know, staying out
of big crowds, or staying away from people who are ill.
You know, those kind of measures definitely reduce the spread
and reduce the burden of rus ME.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
I really appreciate you having a chat with us this morning,
and you know, the work that you're doing in this
area I think is so incredibly important, particularly after your
own personal tragedy that you've gone through, to really be
out there trying to help other families is such an
admirable thing to do.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
Thanks Katie. It's something I'm very passionate about and I
just think all children should be kept protected from these nasty,
invectious diseases.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
Yeah, I totally agree with you. Immunization Foundation of Australia
Director Catherine Hughes, thanks so much for your time today.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
My pleasure. Thanks Katie, Thank you,