Community-led diphtheria vaccination campaign to manage a diphtheria outbreak in a remote Aboriginal community

Authors

  • Allison Hempenstall Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service
  • Joanne Neville Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service
  • Caroline Taunton Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service
  • Valmay Fisher Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service
  • Vince Connellan Wujal Wujal Primary Healthcare Centre, Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service
  • Alice Tayley Wujal Wujal Primary Healthcare Centre, Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service
  • Georgina Keys Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service
  • Josh Hanson Cairns Hospital, Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2024.48.49

Keywords:

diphtheria, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, vaccination, public health, outbreak, Aboriginal health

Abstract

In 2022, five cases of diphtheria were identified in and around Wujal Wujal, a discrete Aboriginal community in Far North Queensland. This prompted a mass diphtheria vaccination campaign in the community which increased the proportion of residents aged ≥14 years receiving a diphtheria containing vaccine in the prior twelve months from 5% to 74%. No further cases were detected in the subsequent twenty-two months.

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References

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Published

23/10/24

How to Cite

Hempenstall, Allison, Joanne Neville, Caroline Taunton, Valmay Fisher, Vince Connellan, Alice Tayley, Georgina Keys, and Josh Hanson. 2024. “Community-Led Diphtheria Vaccination Campaign to Manage a Diphtheria Outbreak in a Remote Aboriginal Community”. Communicable Diseases Intelligence 48 (October). https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2024.48.49.

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