Man critical condition with a life-threatening illness after he was bitten by a bat in NSW
NSW Health urged people not to touch bats after a man aged in his 50's contracted Australian bat lyssavirus.
It is the first confirmed case of the virus in NSW, which is closely related to rabies, it affects the central nervous system and is usually fatal.
Only three cases of lyssavirus have been identified in Australia since 1996, all of those cases were in Queensland and all three people died.
NSW Health director in health protection Keira Glasgow said it was a very tragic situation.
'The man had been bitten by a bat several months ago and received treatment following the injury,' she said.
'Further investigation is underway to understand whether other exposures or factors played a role in his illness.
'We know 118 people required medical assessment after being bitten or scratched by bats in 2024, but this is the first confirmed case of the virus in NSW, and the fourth case in Australia.'
Dr Glasgow said it was incredibly rare for the virus to transmit to humans, but once symptoms of lyssavirus started in people who were scratched or bitten by an infected bat there was no effective way to treat the disease.
She urged everyone to assume all Australian bats carried the virus.
'This is why only trained, protected and vaccinated wildlife handlers should interact with bats,' she said.
'If you are bitten or scratched by a bat, urgent medical assessment is crucial.'
Dr Glasgow recommended anyone who was bitten by a bat to immediately wash the wound with soap and water thoroughly for 15 mins and apply an antivirus antiseptic, such as betadine, and allow it to dry.
'You will then require treatment with rabies immunoglobulin and rabies vaccine,' she said.
There is no cure for lyssavirus which has been found in species of flying foxes, fruit bats and insect-eating microbats.
The World Health Organisation estimates more than 55,000 people died from rabies around the world each year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
Cairns skin clinic imports machine using lasers and AI to spare patients from needles, scars
A skin cancer clinic is trialling emerging technology that helps identify skin cancers without the need for patients to go under the knife. Vin Rajeswaran decided to import the new machine, knowing the apprehension many of his patients felt at the thought of walking into his clinic. "People don't understand how much of a scary situation it is unless you're a needle-phobe like me," Dr Rajeswaran said. Conventional skin pathology usually involves cutting a lesion for a biopsy that can lead to scarring, even when a suspicious mark proves not to be cancerous. Developments in medical imaging instead use low-powered lasers to scan skin lesions, allowing doctors a 3D view of potential tumours before they decide whether they need to be cut. Dr Rajeswaran said the technology would significantly reduce the need for needles, bleeding and scarring, and "change the way we practice skin cancer medicine in a big way". "You can see the cells in real time," he said. "We're not waiting for seven days or 10 days for [a biopsy sample] to be sent to a pathology lab [and] for the results to come back. "If you're a young woman or man and the biopsy is supposed to be done on the tip of your nose, we can stop the scarring from happening because it could be a benign lesion." Australia has one of the world's highest rates of skin cancer, with Cancer Council figures showing 99 per cent of cases are either basal cell or squamous cell carcinomas. In addition to allowing doctors to view a 3D image of a potential cancer, the diagnostic machine, called Deep Live, can also identify basal cell carcinomas using artificial intelligence. Dr Rajeswaran said the machine could "accurately map where the carcinoma stops", so when it was removed, doctors were "not cutting too much or too little". However, Medicare does not subsidise its use, meaning patients who prefer a scan to a biopsy will not be eligible for a government rebate. The Melanoma Institute of Australia is contributing to international research into non-invasive diagnostic tools, including AI. It is also developing a national screening road map, which will be critical in building a case for the federal government to subsidise these options under Medicare and recommending when non-invasive options should be used. Professor Pascale Guitera, a world-leading dermatologist and Melanoma Institute director, said that process, which included randomised trials and cost-benefit analyses, would likely take about five years. "One of the things we want is not only to find the nasty [cancers] quicker, but we also want to reduce the amount of unnecessary biopsies," she said. Professor Guitera said AI was being trained to distinguish melanomas from moles, with the technology "getting there in terms of accuracy" although not quite ready to be used at an expert level. "At the moment, we think AI will be very useful in particular for primary practice, the nurses, who are triaging patients," she said. "[AI] can be quite lost when [melanoma] are very early stage and very small, or completely pink." Professor Guitera said the technology would also help ease pressure on a stretched workforce by equipping more medical staff "to be able to triage lesions, find lesions of concern and refer appropriately". "The whole planet is looking at what we're doing, in particular with this road map, because depending on the decision taken there, I think we'll have a lot of governments looking and maybe copying what we put in place," she said. As Dr Rajeswaran's Cairns clinic gets used to the new technology, the few other machines available in Australia are all for research, not walk-in patients. Adam Jacobson, a medical imaging technologist who works for Deep Live's manufacturer Damae Medical, said the technology had become commercially available in the past three years, after almost a decade in development. "There's one going into Perth to look at the skin of premature babies and there's one going into the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane," Mr Jacobson said. Dr Rajeswaran said he was investigating ways of taking the machine to his patients in isolated towns, such as Weipa, more than 800 kilometres north of Cairns. "Normally these machines come to Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane first and then it gets spread out to the rest of the place, and my passion is to bring it to regional towns," he said. With no rebate available, he is looking at charging patients between $50 and $100 for scans, depending on lesion size. However, Dr Rajeswaran said it was "unlikely" many clinics would adopt the technology "purely for commercial purposes" without Medicare subsidies. "There has to be more focus on patient benefit and outcome, rather than how much we can make out of this machine," he said.
ABC News
9 hours ago
- ABC News
Fatal Victorian crash that saw 91yo driver hit three pedestrians puts focus on elderly driver rules
When a car driven by a 91-year-old killed a woman and left a man and boy with life-threatening injuries on Thursday, it reignited discussion over whether Victoria's rules for elderly drivers needed revisiting. The morning after the incident, acting premier Ben Carroll said whether the rules should change was "a valid question". "I will work with the road safety minister on this," Mr Carroll said. The tragedy followed another crash in March, when six-year-old Caleb Wesley died when an 84-year-old woman hit him on Bannockburn-Shelford Road at Teesdale. Unlike Queensland, New South Wales, and the ACT, Victoria does not require drivers aged 75 and over to have annual medical assessments to keep their licence. Western Australia also requires medical assessments past the age of 80, and in some states, bespoke driving tests for the elderly are required at the request of a doctor, or when drivers pass a certain age. In Victoria, there are no mandatory medical checks or driving tests for the elderly. While drivers are required to notify VicRoads if they develop conditions that could affect their driving — and they may be asked to complete a medical review — responsibility largely falls on the individual to decide if they are fit to drive. Victoria Police data shows in the five years to June 30, 2023, motorists aged 65 or older were responsible for at least 145 road deaths and more than 7,000 injuries. But University of Adelaide centre for automotive safety deputy director Matthew Baldock said older drivers actually had fewer crashes. "Older drivers are often sort of maligned as being a group with a higher-crash risk than other age groups, but research actually indicates the opposite," Dr Baldock said. "If you look at overall crash numbers, the older the age group, the smaller the overall crash numbers they're involved in." Crash rates per licensed driver showed older drivers had the lowest crash rate of any age group, which Dr Baldock said may be in part because they drove less frequently. He said research also did not suggest mandatory medical exams or requirements to re-test for the elderly resulted in safer roads. "In Victoria, there's no mandatory age-based assessments for older drivers and Victorian older-driver crash rates are certainly no higher than anywhere else in Australia," Dr Baldock said. For Dr Baldock, the biggest concern with older drivers was that their inherent frailty meant any crash was more likely to result in injury. Swinburne University associate professor Amie Hayley has also investigated whether mandatory assessments of older drivers made roads safer. She found such measures did not translate to a meaningful difference in crash rates. Steps taken in Japan to cognitively screen older drivers for conditions such as dementia suggested a possible solution, but those too came with drawbacks. "[They] did translate to a reduction in road traffic crashes but paradoxically that also resulted in a higher proportion of older pedestrians becoming injured," she said. "If we're looking at driving performance among older people and assessing their risk of crashes, it needs to be a system which can incorporate things like cognitive performance, mental acuity, but also physical health as well." Ben Rogers, Council on the Ageing Victoria (COTA) chief executive, said Victoria led the country on older-driver policy, despite having less screening. "Driving should be based on ability and not your age," he said. "A system that is based on ability rather than age is more likely to capture, for instance, when someone who is aged 45 who really should not be driving, should be taken off the road." Mr Rogers said he wanted to see more proactive support for drivers. "For instance, we have previously called for greater investment in driver-awareness programmes, which can often be inaccessible due to cost," he said. Mr Rogers said the presumption older drivers were more at risk or more at fault was ageist, adding that consideration had to be given to the isolation and mental health impact of an older person having their licence taken off them. Anita Muñoz, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Victoria chair, said the organisation did not believe Victoria should impose mandatory annual medical check. But those over 65 should be asking their GP for help answering the question of whether they should keep driving, it said. While advanced age was not innately a barrier to safe driving, Dr Muñoz said people's reflexes, ability to see clearly, and judgement all changed as they aged. "Everyone of any age must recognise their personal responsibility for the actions that they take. If you drive a car, you need to be certain that you will be a safe driver," she said. Shadow minister for road safety, Danny O'Brien, said regulation change was not needed. "While this is a terrible tragedy, we need to avoid hasty responses that might unfairly tarnish older drivers," he said. "The law already requires drivers to be medically fit for driving, and we support that." Victoria In Victoria, there are no mandatory medical checks or driving tests for the elderly. But all motorists are required by law to notify authorities if they have any illness that may prevent them from driving safely. If a driver is 75 years of over, they are offered the option to renew their licence every three years, rather than every 10 years. New South Wales From age 70, drivers with a multi-combination (MC) licence (required for the largest and most complex trucks and vehicles) require an annual medical assessment and bespoke test for older drivers. From 75, all licence holders are required to have medical assessments to assess their fitness to drive annually, and bespoke driver tests are required if a doctor recommends one. From 85, the same annual medical assessments are required, and driver tests are mandatory every two years. Queensland From age 75, drivers are required to have a doctor assess their medical fitness to drive every year and drivers must carry a current medical certificate while driving, issued by the doctor. Doctors can issue medical certificates for less than a year, if they feel more regular checks are required. Driving without a certificate can result in a fine of $161. South Australia Drivers and doctors are required by law to report medical conditions that affect ability to drive to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles. Such conditions can include alcohol or drug dependence, dementia, heart conditions, strokes, arthritis, eye issues, or blackouts. Elderly drivers can be required to undergo medical assessments, self-assessment and/or a practical driving assessment. Drivers are sent a self-assessment annually in the mail to complete from the age of 75. From 85, licence holders for other vehicles have to do an annual practical driving test, but this is not required of car drivers. Western Australia At 80, drivers must undergo an annual medical assessment before they can renew their licence. Mandatory practical driving assessments are not required by drivers aged 85 and older, unless recommended by a medical professional. However, these drivers still have to complete a licence renewal declaration. Tasmania In the past, compulsory annual driving assessments for Tasmanian drivers aged 85 or older were required, but this rule was scrapped in 2011, and it is now the elderly driver's responsibility to regularly assess their own fitness to drive. Older drivers are required to disclose any conditions that might affect their driving ability, and the valid period of licences issued after the driver turns 65 is five years. ACT Drivers aged 75 and over need to get annual medical assessments from their doctor. Drivers with heavy vehicle licences aged 70 and over also require annual medical examinations. Northern Territory The rules are similar to Victoria — there are no compulsory checks for older drivers. But drivers with a medical condition that may affect their ability to drive need to declare them to authorities.
ABC News
11 hours ago
- ABC News
Test your knowledge about influenza as we head towards the winter peak
We're in the thick of flu season and the expected winter surge is in full swing. In the last few weeks most states and territories have seen steep rises in influenza cases and the overall number for the year to date has exceeded those in the same period last year. Cases remain highest in children aged nine and under and this year we are seeing a higher number of influenza B compared to last year. Historically, late July is when infections peak — so how prepared are you? Do you know how long you might be contagious for? Or when you might need to see a doctor? Let's test your knowledge.
