Hepatitis A Outbreak in Australia: A Vaccine Preventable Disease

This report examines the Hepatitis A outbreak in Australia over the past decade, referencing data from ABC News and NSW Health. It highlights that reported cases have ranged from 41 to 82 since 2013, with outbreaks often linked to contaminated food or person-to-person spread due to poor hygiene, particularly affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The report details the symptoms of Hepatitis A, including vomiting, nausea, fever, and jaundice, and underscores the significance of herd immunity in preventing disease spread, noting the positive impact of Australia's National Hepatitis A immunisation program in protecting vulnerable populations even with modest vaccination coverage. The document concludes by emphasizing that achieving high levels of immunity within a community safeguards susceptible individuals by reducing the likelihood of pathogen transmission.

0Running head: VACCINE PREVENTABLE DISEASE
Vaccine Preventable Disease
Name of the Student
Name of University
Author’s note

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VACCINE PREVENTABLE DISEASE
Vaccine Preventable Disease Outbreak in Australia (for the past 10 years): Hepatitis A
Summary of the Outbreak Statistics
According to the reports published by ABC news (2017), there have been 82 to 41
reported cases of hepatitis A occurrence since 2013. The same statistics has been reported by
NSW Health (2017). According to NSW (2017), the people who become victims of Hepatitis A
outbreak have mostly returned from the high-risk countries. ABC news further reported that in
2015, at least 18 people have contracted the disease in Victoria with the outbreak associated with
frozen berries. NSW Health (2017) has launched an investigation in order to study the hepatitis
outbreak following the confirmation of 12 cases during the past five week alone in Sydney and in
associated areas. This investigation showed that 10 out of 12 people have had no recent travel to
overseas and thus the reason behind the occurrence of disease is maintenance of poor hygiene.
The rate of occurrence was more prevalent among the aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Children residing in the Northern Territory of South Australia, Queensland and Western
Australia (Australian Government Department of Health, 2017).
Impact of the outbreak on the patient and community
According to NSW Health (2017), Australia has low incidence of hepatitis A. However,
the outbreak are mostly associated with the consumption of contaminated food products or at
times linked with person-to-person spread. This viral disease is mostly a result of poor hygiene
and the symptoms include vomiting, nausea, high fever, dark urine, yellowing of the skin and
pale stools.
Importance of Herd Immunity

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According to the reports published by Thompson et al. (2017), the National Hepatitis A
immunisation program has had a notable impact over the target population with relatively
modest vaccination coverage along with evidence for suggestive f substantial herd protection
effects. According to Ott, Irving and Wiersma (2012), Herd immunity signifies that not everyone
in the community needs to be immunized in order to prevent the spread of the disease. If high
percentage of individuals within the population is immune against the disease then it will ensure
that the majority will safe guard the negligible susceptible groups because pathogen is less likely
to spot any susceptible person.

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References
Doctors probe food link in hepatitis A outbreak. (2017). ABC News. Retrieved 22 February 2018,
from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-05/hepatitis-a-outbreak-in-sydney-with-12-
people-infected/8874800
NSW Health investigating hepatitis A outbreak in Sydney - News. (2017). Health.nsw.gov.au.
Retrieved 22 February 2018, from
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/news/Pages/20170905_02.aspx
NSW Health investigating hepatitis A outbreak in Sydney - News. (2017). Health.nsw.gov.au.
Retrieved 22 February 2018, from
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/news/Pages/20170905_02.aspx
Ott, J. J., Irving, G., & Wiersma, S. T. (2012). Long-term protective effects of hepatitis A
vaccines. A systematic review. Vaccine, 31(1), 3-11.
Thompson, C., Dey, A., Fearnley, E., Polkinghorne, B., & Beard, F. (2017). Impact of the
national targeted Hepatitis A immunisation program in Australia: 2000–
2014. Vaccine, 35(1), 170-176.