title: Invasive pneumococcal disease in north Queensland, 2001.
abstract: This report provides information on the 93 locally-acquired cases of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) notified in children and adults in north Queensland in 2001. Indigenous people represented 38 (41%) cases. Almost half (45) of all cases were in children under 15 years of age, 20 (44%) of these were in children less than 2 years of age and 20 (44%) in Indigenous children. Five severe cases of IPD occurred, all in non-indigenous children under 2 years of age. Nine (10%) of the isolates from cases, mainly in young children, had some level of resistance to penicillin. Pneumococcal vaccination programs (including the Indigenous 'elderly and at-risk' adult program and the paediatric 'Indigenous and medically at-risk' conjugate vaccine program) are in place in Queensland although the vaccine is not currently funded for other at-risk groups. If vaccine recommendations had been adhered to in a timely fashion, two of the cases in children and one third (16) of the cases in adults that occurred in 2001 could potentially have been prevented.
authors.affiliation: Communicable Disease Control, Tropical Public Health Unit-Townsville, Aitkenvale, Queensland. susanlhills@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Hills
authors.forename: Jeffrey N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Hanna
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011793:Queensland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012042:Registries; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012424:Rural Population; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015996:Survival Rate; D014611:Vaccination / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines