Heartbroken mum urges free vaccines for deadly disease
A grieving parent is urging states to act quickly and help stop a fatal yet preventable disease by making vaccines free.
Meningococcal B is the leading strain of the disease in Australia, accounting for five in six cases in 2022.
But families trying to protect key groups - young children and adolescents - need to fork out about $270 for the two-dose vaccine in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia.
Without it, the disease kills about one in 10 and leaves one-in-four survivors with permanent complications.
Research has also found the jab can reduce gonorrhoea cases in teenagers, an antibiotic-resistant infection that can cause infertility.
With the NSW budget on the horizon, Stacey Charter pleaded with state leaders to ensure other families do not experience the heartache she felt after losing her son to the fast-moving disease.
Days before Christmas in 2022, Stacey noticed her son Brayden was feeling unwell and two hours later she found him convulsing and unresponsive.
Despite being rushed to hospital, the 23-year-old was declared brain-dead later that night.
"No parent should have to endure what we have," Ms Charter said.
"Brayden's death could have been prevented.
"That's why I am pleading with the Minns government and (Health Minister) Ryan Park to act before another family is left heartbroken. I simply don't understand why they won't listen."
The meningococcal B jab is free for First Nations children before their first birthday and people with certain medical conditions under the national immunisation program
But all babies and teens can access it for free under state-funded programs in Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland.
Meningitis Centre Australia said NSW needed to follow suit and make preventative health a priority.
It says a NSW program would cost an estimated $20 million per year.
"We are on the brink of peak season; we must act now before any other family is impacted," chief executive Karen Quick said.
NSW lower-house independent MPs, opposition health spokeswoman Kellie Sloane and the Greens also back the call for free vaccines.
A government spokesman said it would respond based on the evidence available, with figures showing only one in every 200,000 NSW residents contracted the disease each year.
NSW's health minister had asked federal counterpart Mark Butler to consider including the meningococcal B vaccine in the National Immunisation Program, he said.
About 135 Australians contracted all forms of meningococcal disease in 2024, with 46 cases reported this year, the National Communicable Disease Surveillance Dashboard shows.
A grieving parent is urging states to act quickly and help stop a fatal yet preventable disease by making vaccines free.
Meningococcal B is the leading strain of the disease in Australia, accounting for five in six cases in 2022.
But families trying to protect key groups - young children and adolescents - need to fork out about $270 for the two-dose vaccine in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia.
Without it, the disease kills about one in 10 and leaves one-in-four survivors with permanent complications.
Research has also found the jab can reduce gonorrhoea cases in teenagers, an antibiotic-resistant infection that can cause infertility.
With the NSW budget on the horizon, Stacey Charter pleaded with state leaders to ensure other families do not experience the heartache she felt after losing her son to the fast-moving disease.
Days before Christmas in 2022, Stacey noticed her son Brayden was feeling unwell and two hours later she found him convulsing and unresponsive.
Despite being rushed to hospital, the 23-year-old was declared brain-dead later that night.
"No parent should have to endure what we have," Ms Charter said.
"Brayden's death could have been prevented.
"That's why I am pleading with the Minns government and (Health Minister) Ryan Park to act before another family is left heartbroken. I simply don't understand why they won't listen."
The meningococcal B jab is free for First Nations children before their first birthday and people with certain medical conditions under the national immunisation program
But all babies and teens can access it for free under state-funded programs in Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland.
Meningitis Centre Australia said NSW needed to follow suit and make preventative health a priority.
It says a NSW program would cost an estimated $20 million per year.
"We are on the brink of peak season; we must act now before any other family is impacted," chief executive Karen Quick said.
NSW lower-house independent MPs, opposition health spokeswoman Kellie Sloane and the Greens also back the call for free vaccines.
A government spokesman said it would respond based on the evidence available, with figures showing only one in every 200,000 NSW residents contracted the disease each year.
NSW's health minister had asked federal counterpart Mark Butler to consider including the meningococcal B vaccine in the National Immunisation Program, he said.
About 135 Australians contracted all forms of meningococcal disease in 2024, with 46 cases reported this year, the National Communicable Disease Surveillance Dashboard shows.
A grieving parent is urging states to act quickly and help stop a fatal yet preventable disease by making vaccines free.
Meningococcal B is the leading strain of the disease in Australia, accounting for five in six cases in 2022.
But families trying to protect key groups - young children and adolescents - need to fork out about $270 for the two-dose vaccine in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia.
Without it, the disease kills about one in 10 and leaves one-in-four survivors with permanent complications.
Research has also found the jab can reduce gonorrhoea cases in teenagers, an antibiotic-resistant infection that can cause infertility.
With the NSW budget on the horizon, Stacey Charter pleaded with state leaders to ensure other families do not experience the heartache she felt after losing her son to the fast-moving disease.
Days before Christmas in 2022, Stacey noticed her son Brayden was feeling unwell and two hours later she found him convulsing and unresponsive.
Despite being rushed to hospital, the 23-year-old was declared brain-dead later that night.
"No parent should have to endure what we have," Ms Charter said.
"Brayden's death could have been prevented.
"That's why I am pleading with the Minns government and (Health Minister) Ryan Park to act before another family is left heartbroken. I simply don't understand why they won't listen."
The meningococcal B jab is free for First Nations children before their first birthday and people with certain medical conditions under the national immunisation program
But all babies and teens can access it for free under state-funded programs in Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland.
Meningitis Centre Australia said NSW needed to follow suit and make preventative health a priority.
It says a NSW program would cost an estimated $20 million per year.
"We are on the brink of peak season; we must act now before any other family is impacted," chief executive Karen Quick said.
NSW lower-house independent MPs, opposition health spokeswoman Kellie Sloane and the Greens also back the call for free vaccines.
A government spokesman said it would respond based on the evidence available, with figures showing only one in every 200,000 NSW residents contracted the disease each year.
NSW's health minister had asked federal counterpart Mark Butler to consider including the meningococcal B vaccine in the National Immunisation Program, he said.
About 135 Australians contracted all forms of meningococcal disease in 2024, with 46 cases reported this year, the National Communicable Disease Surveillance Dashboard shows.
A grieving parent is urging states to act quickly and help stop a fatal yet preventable disease by making vaccines free.
Meningococcal B is the leading strain of the disease in Australia, accounting for five in six cases in 2022.
But families trying to protect key groups - young children and adolescents - need to fork out about $270 for the two-dose vaccine in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia.
Without it, the disease kills about one in 10 and leaves one-in-four survivors with permanent complications.
Research has also found the jab can reduce gonorrhoea cases in teenagers, an antibiotic-resistant infection that can cause infertility.
With the NSW budget on the horizon, Stacey Charter pleaded with state leaders to ensure other families do not experience the heartache she felt after losing her son to the fast-moving disease.
Days before Christmas in 2022, Stacey noticed her son Brayden was feeling unwell and two hours later she found him convulsing and unresponsive.
Despite being rushed to hospital, the 23-year-old was declared brain-dead later that night.
"No parent should have to endure what we have," Ms Charter said.
"Brayden's death could have been prevented.
"That's why I am pleading with the Minns government and (Health Minister) Ryan Park to act before another family is left heartbroken. I simply don't understand why they won't listen."
The meningococcal B jab is free for First Nations children before their first birthday and people with certain medical conditions under the national immunisation program
But all babies and teens can access it for free under state-funded programs in Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland.
Meningitis Centre Australia said NSW needed to follow suit and make preventative health a priority.
It says a NSW program would cost an estimated $20 million per year.
"We are on the brink of peak season; we must act now before any other family is impacted," chief executive Karen Quick said.
NSW lower-house independent MPs, opposition health spokeswoman Kellie Sloane and the Greens also back the call for free vaccines.
A government spokesman said it would respond based on the evidence available, with figures showing only one in every 200,000 NSW residents contracted the disease each year.
NSW's health minister had asked federal counterpart Mark Butler to consider including the meningococcal B vaccine in the National Immunisation Program, he said.
About 135 Australians contracted all forms of meningococcal disease in 2024, with 46 cases reported this year, the National Communicable Disease Surveillance Dashboard shows.
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Phone conversations were hard, she needed friends and family to repeat themselves and the country music shows she loved had become muffled and unclear. "I just gave up because I didn't know what song was coming on," Ms Young, now 58, told AAP. She initially ignored her audiologist's advice until life became too difficult. "Sometimes you felt excluded, and you tended to exclude yourself because you weren't quite sure what was said, and you didn't want to pop in and embarrass yourself," Ms Young said. After mixed results with hearing aids, her audiologist suggested her for a trial of the Cochlear's new implant, the 8th generation of the device which directly stimulates the auditory nerve, as opposed to hearing aids which amplify sound. The new internal memory allowed users to store their personal hearing settings on the implant, while upgrades could improve the way the auditory nerve was stimulated, implant program director Robert Briggs said. "That's a big change, and in the longer run we're hoping new stimulation strategies will allow better clarity of hearing and better speech understanding," Professor Briggs told AAP. The new device was developed over a decade with the help of Cochlear's 600-strong research and development teams across six global centres. One in six Australians, or 3.6 million people, suffer from some form of hearing loss. Cochlear has provided more than 750,000 hearing implants to people around the world over four decades, and helped children born deaf to hear for the first time. When Ms Young first had the implant, she said interpreting the signals was like learning a new language. "To me it sounded like a lot of magpies talking all at once in my head," she said. But with time and a little patience from friends and family, she was soon back where she wanted to be. "Six weeks after I got my implant, I went to the Deni Ute Muster in the front row and watched my country music," she said. "It has given me back my social aspect, my confidence ... It's just given me a new lease for life." She urged anyone noticing changes in their hearing to get checked. "I just want to suggest anybody that has trouble hearing or think they're having a difficulty - get onto it," she said. "Don't sit back like I did." Hearing implant developer and manufacturer Cochlear is sounding out the market, launching its latest implant and cutting earnings guidance on the same day. Weaker-than-expected sales forced the health technology company to trim net profit expectations to between $390 to $400 million, down from $410 million to $430 million, but still higher than FY24's $387 million result. Implant sales were expected to increase by around 10 per cent this financial year, with growth weighted to the emerging markets as expansion in developed markets undershot expectations. The update came as Cochlear launched its latest implant in Australia, the first of its kind with upgradeable firmware and internal memory. Investors opted to take the good news over the bad, sending Cochlear shares 0.4 per cent higher to $271.65 after dipping more than nine per cent at the market's open. Jenny Young, one of the first to try the new device, was in her late 40s when her audiologist told her she would need hearing aids. Phone conversations were hard, she needed friends and family to repeat themselves and the country music shows she loved had become muffled and unclear. "I just gave up because I didn't know what song was coming on," Ms Young, now 58, told AAP. She initially ignored her audiologist's advice until life became too difficult. "Sometimes you felt excluded, and you tended to exclude yourself because you weren't quite sure what was said, and you didn't want to pop in and embarrass yourself," Ms Young said. After mixed results with hearing aids, her audiologist suggested her for a trial of the Cochlear's new implant, the 8th generation of the device which directly stimulates the auditory nerve, as opposed to hearing aids which amplify sound. The new internal memory allowed users to store their personal hearing settings on the implant, while upgrades could improve the way the auditory nerve was stimulated, implant program director Robert Briggs said. "That's a big change, and in the longer run we're hoping new stimulation strategies will allow better clarity of hearing and better speech understanding," Professor Briggs told AAP. The new device was developed over a decade with the help of Cochlear's 600-strong research and development teams across six global centres. One in six Australians, or 3.6 million people, suffer from some form of hearing loss. Cochlear has provided more than 750,000 hearing implants to people around the world over four decades, and helped children born deaf to hear for the first time. When Ms Young first had the implant, she said interpreting the signals was like learning a new language. "To me it sounded like a lot of magpies talking all at once in my head," she said. But with time and a little patience from friends and family, she was soon back where she wanted to be. "Six weeks after I got my implant, I went to the Deni Ute Muster in the front row and watched my country music," she said. "It has given me back my social aspect, my confidence ... It's just given me a new lease for life." She urged anyone noticing changes in their hearing to get checked. "I just want to suggest anybody that has trouble hearing or think they're having a difficulty - get onto it," she said. "Don't sit back like I did."
