Army doctors to assist in the deployment of the meningococcal vaccine

The short-notice deployment of the meningococcal vaccine in Northland will require a small army of personnel – and this could even take the New Zealand Army.

Northland District Health Board General Manager Nick Chamberlain said the council had contacted New Zealand's defense forces about teams of doctors attending the "logistical feat" of administering the vaccines at dozens of clinics.

It would not be the first time the two have worked together. In 2014, the Defense Force Dental Staff worked with NDHB on the Wisdom Tooth Exercise, which runs dental clinics for high-need residents of the North.

While Northland has reached the Ministry of Health's threshold indicating an outbreak, the government has announced the establishment of a free vaccination program in Northland.

The region has the highest number of male strain cases per population in New Zealand, with seven of the country's 29 cases and three of six deaths in the country.

"The only effective way to manage this outbreak is to use a vaccination program," said Chamberlain.

Clinic staffing at dozens of Northland sites will also involve the deployment of school nurses and other health personnel as part of the three-week, seven-day-a-week program to vaccinate 20,000 young children and youth. .

With only 20,000 doses of vaccine available, two age groups are targeted – the most at risk from 9 months to less than 5 years old and the 13 to 19 year olds, exchanging higher levels of bacteria than other age groups. # 39; age.

Ailsa Tuck, a pediatrician at DNHB, said the immunization groups would protect where the need was felt and would have the greatest immediate impact on reducing the spread of the disease.
The BNDH is trying to get another set of doses so that the middle age group can be vaccinated early next year.

"We know that parents in this group are going to be worried," Tuck said.

Be extremely vigilant about child illness and see a doctor early, she said.

MenW does not show typical meningococcal symptoms, but the patient quickly becomes extremely ill.

Four of Northland's cases occurred in September and no link was found between the seven local cases. Up to 20% of the population can carry the meningococcal bacteria in the throat or nasal passages without getting sick, but can spread it.

Chamberlain defended the DHB against claims that he did not act quickly enough. He added that the first two cases in adults in May did not mean an outbreak in the community.

"The assertion that we should have done something sooner is unfair."

The committee's microbiologist, David Hammer, warned staff at the time of both cases and told the media yesterday that his "hunch" was that cases would increase.

However, the presence of the disease in the community did not become a public safety problem until the MoH criterion of 10 cases per 100,000 population was reached.

"We have to wait for the status of the epidemic, but we definitely want to vaccinate and we wish we could start earlier," Chamberlain said. He stated that he was a doctor in "the dark days" of a serious meningococcal epidemic nationwide in the 1990s, which no one would want to see again.

DHB will pay for vaccines and staffing needs, the campaign will probably cost between $ 1 million and $ 2 million. The Ministry of Health will reimburse most of the costs. Parents whose children are between the ages of five and thirteen, or members of the community who wish to be vaccinated, may pay privately for the vaccine provided by their general practitioner.

Free vaccination clinics will be held in schools and community centers, and schedules and venues will be announced in the media and online forums starting tonight.