Babies vulnerable to measles, as global cases surge
Scientists at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute have found children can be vulnerable to measles infections at four months of age, which is well before they can currently receive their first vaccine at 12 months.
Measles is surging across the world and Australia has already recorded more infections this year than for the whole of 2024.
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ABC News
41 minutes ago
- ABC News
Hundreds of volunteers help clean properties after devastating Taree floods
More than 700 volunteers are spending the weekend moving around flood-affected areas of Taree in New South Wales to help clean up in the wake of last week's catastrophic floods. After experiencing major flooding in 2021, Taree was recently hit with 500 millimetres of rain in a matter of days, causing widespread damage and property loss. This weekend, people from around the mid-north coast arrived at the town next to the Manning River to help out with the community event called Mud Muster. "I've come from Foster but I'm a Taree girl," Debra Brown said. She said residents have still not been able to even enter some of the worst-affected properties. "The houses are full of mud, there are logs in houses and we cleared away one front door because there were sticks and logs and mud stopping people from even getting into the house to empty it. "The poor owners don't know if they're coming or going." Tracey Stevenson's mother is still recovering from the 2021 foods that damaged her house in Wingham. Four years later, she has to relive the trauma. "It's very hard for her to be here — people are asking her what she wants to throw out, it's overwhelming and then you're in tears for an hour," Ms Stevenson said. "You go home and you can't switch off in bed either." She said after days of labour, her family is past the worst of the clean-up. "You go between warrior mode and devastation mode but we're over the hard part of moving the furniture out and digging out all the mud, which was 4 inches through the whole house. "Pretty much everything was thrown out but we managed to keep Mum's bed." She said while much of the house was salvageable, other parts would need to be replaced and the home was not insured. "Mum's tough, she's a farmer and a nurse and will overcome it with time and support and her animals, which are everything to her. "I think we'll just keep supporting her and keep going on until we decide down the track whether we do a change or whether she stays." Following the floods, Mid Coast Community Flood Response First Nations lead Tanika Perry went door-to-door, visiting the Biripi Aboriginal Mission at Purfleet, south of Taree. In the immediate aftermath, access to the community was cut off, meaning food supplies could not get in. Ms Perry said the toll had been significant on the Aboriginal community, which had not been able to see family members that were isolated, as well as losing many possessions. "In the last four to five days we've been able to build out a big strategy around us as a community group supporting the Aboriginal community-controlled organisations to work together in response to the floods. "In terms of infrastructure, some houses more towards the river bank have lost everything. "But in terms of the community at Purfleet, no infrastructure was lost but people have lost items in their house and then there's all the mould."
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Toddler dead after allegedly being hit by car in driveway of southwest Sydney home
A toddler has died after she was allegedly hit by a car in the driveway of a home in Sydney's southwest. The 18-month-old girl was allegedly struck in the driveway of a Villawood home on Saturday afternoon, with emergency services called to the scene at Culgoa Bend about 12pm. Officers were told the young girl was allegedly struck by a car driven by a 28-year-old woman. Paramedics treated the toddler at the scene before she was rushed The Children's Hospital at Westmead in a critical condition. However, the child died. The driver was taken to Westmead Hospital for mandatory testing, and a crime scene is set to be investigated by the Crash Investigation Unit.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
‘Daunting, grim': Deputy PM's warning on China's nuclear goals
Beijing's nuclear ambitions and Chinese military build up create daunting and grim challenges across the Asia-Pacific, Australia's Deputy Prime Minister has warned. Defence Minister Richard Marles used a speech at a summit in Singapore to reiterate alarm bells over Chinese and Russian nuclear weapons. 'China's decision to pursue rapid nuclear modernisation and expansion, which aims in part to reach parity with or surpass the United States, is another reason the future of strategic arms control must be revitalised,' Mr Marles said in a speech on Saturday. 'And that is a difficult and daunting project. 'We also have to counter the grim, potentially imminent, possibility of another wave of global nuclear proliferation as states seek security in a new age of imperial ambition.' Mr Marles made the speech at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Shangri-La Dialogue conference in Singapore on Saturday. The annual conference attracts defence ministers, senior military and security officials and diplomats from across the Asia Pacific; it is the pre-eminent regional security forum. Beijing has not sent its National Defence Minister Dong Jun, instead sending a lower-level academic delegation. Last year's forum resulted in a meeting between Mr Dong and then-US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. In his speech on Saturday, while acknowledging the US as a nuclear superpower, Mr Marles said arms controls needed to be strengthened. 'Russia suspended its participation in the last remaining binding bilateral arms control treaty between the United States and Russia in 2023,' he said. 'This leaves no legally binding limits on the strategic nuclear arsenals of the two largest nuclear powers for the first time since 1972. 'New technologies like cyber, the weaponisation of space, and the ability to integrate nuclear weapons with autonomous systems means traditional arms control frameworks are being surpassed without any established method of control to supplement them.'
