Meningitis: Indigenous People of Australia.

As health professionals, we must look beyond individual attributes of Indigenous Australians to gain a greater understanding and a possible explanation of why there are such high rates of ill health issues such as alcoholism, depression, abuse, shorter life expectancy and higher prevalence of diseases including diabetes, heart disease and obesity in our indigenous population. Looking at just the individual aspects and the biomedical health model, we don’t get the context of Aboriginal health. This is why we need to explore in further detail what events could have created such inequities in Aboriginal health. Other details that we should consider are the historical and cultural factors such as, ‘terra nullius’, dispossession and social

The introduction to the western/European way of living, loss of ancestral land, intolerance and the economic disadvantages that Indigenous Australians suffer fuels socially related conditions within their communities such as substance abuse, violence, increased degrees of infectious diseases and chronic diseases etc. culminating in higher mortality rates than non-Indigenous Australians (Duckett & Willcox, 2011, p. 34-35). Stephens, Porter, Nettleton and Willis (2006) state that “infectious disease burden persists for Indigenous communities with high rates of diseases such as tuberculosis, and inequality also exists in the prevalence of chronic disease, including diabetes and heart disease” (p.2022). Statistics show mortality for most age groups of the

There are over 4000 people affected by bacterial meningitis and around 500 deaths from this in the US every year ("Meningitis."). 6000 cases of pneumococcal meningitis are reported in the US each year and meningococcal meningitis infects close to 2600 people in the US each year ("Meningitis."). 10-15% of these meningococcal cases are fatal, while an additional 10-15% lives with permanent

Africa has the highest incidence of meningococcal disease, tuberculosis, and malaria because of overcrowding in many villages. There is an area in sub-Saharan Africa called the Meningitis Belt that stretches from Senegal to Ethiopia with over 20,000 reported cases and 2,000 deaths every year (Healthgrades editorial staff, 2015). During the dry season in Africa, from December through June, meningitis epidemics occur with the three major areas infected being Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Chad. The most recent outbreak of the meningococcal disease reported in the United States occurred as meningitis in the dorms at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Princeton University in New Jersey in December of 2013 (Doheny, 2013). When the outbreak occurred at these two universities it was caused from serotype B of the disease and resulted in one death. Since the current meningococcal vaccine does not cover the serotype B bacteria the FDA allowed the use of a special vaccine from New Zealand to treat the outbreaks (Burrell, 2015). One in five US teens have not had their first recommended dose of meningococcal vaccine and for those who have had the first dose of the vaccine,

People in the United States are urged from day one that vaccinations are important for the well being of their children and for everyone that your child may come in contact with. Recently, childhood vaccinations have been stigmatized as a negative process. Parents have become increasingly concerned about the effects and side effects of vaccinations. The problem being, that the infectious diseases that are being prevented for, are being forgotten about. Vaccinations have been doing their job in protecting us for so long that the infectious diseases are less scary than vaccination process itself (Austvoll-Dahlgren & Helseth, 2012, p. 271). Vaccinations are a preventative measure and one that will continue to be implemented in children for their individual safety and for the safety of the public. However, it is still the families’ choice whether or not they want to proceed with the vaccination process or not. Most vaccinations are going to be administered by a registered nurse, therefore, it is the role of the nurse to supply information, and answer questions when counseling families through this process. The goal is to make people feel as comfortable and as informed as possible so that they can make a decision on whether to submit to the vaccination process or not.

In order to procure the health of society, parents should vaccinate their children. Multiple studies have been conducted in response to the minority of non-vaccinated children. Since 2003 the average vaccination rate in Australia have remained between 91 and 93%, whilst good this does not meet the target of 95% vaccination of all children in Australia (The Conversation, 2018). Vaccination in it self is the process of injecting in-active microbes, bacteria or a weakened or dead sample of the virus into the body. By injecting these foreign microbes, the immune system in response, produces antibodies or substances necessary in warding off illness or infection. The immune system has three basic lines of defence. Both the first and second line of

Social and Cultural Determinants of Indigenous Health - Australian Government Department of Health - Citizen Space . 2018. Social and Cultural Determinants of Indigenous Health - Australian Government Department of Health - Citizen Space . [ONLINE] Available at: https://consultations.health.gov.au/indigenous-health/determinants/. [Accessed 14 April

These groups are different to other indigenous groups around the world. Among Aboriginal peoples, there are a numerous amount of similar historical and contemporary social determinants that have shaped the health and well being of individuals, families, communities and nations. However, distinctions in the origin show and give impact on social determinants and impact on health interventions to make sure they are successful.

Good Morning students and teachers and welcome to the social justice breakfast for 2016, my name is Annabel Miskell and I will be speaking with you about the impact health has had in the reconciliation process between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

In Australia there has been a significant debate arising around the topic of why should parents/guardians have to vaccinate their chid. It should be mandatory for all children and pregnant mothers to receive the necessary vaccinations to prevent harmful illnesses, avoid having Child Care Benefits withheld from the Governments ‘No Jab, No Pay’ scheme and increase the potential of such diseases to be eradicated.

Achieving Indigenous health equality will require investment in ATSI primary healthcare, health education, improved nutrition, maternal and child health and the prevention and management of disease. This could be done by funding for and encouraging young Indigenous people to go and study health areas and then return back and supply their home communities with health clinics and education on health areas. This will be an effective method as many Indigenous people still have lots of mistrust towards other Australians [CreativeSpirits, 2016]. Doing this will also inspire young ATSI people to look past their communities and into the bigger world. It opens the doors for many more life opportunities for them and will give them knowledge on many important aspects such as food and nutrition, prevention of disease and physical

N. meningitides bacterium responsible for outbreaks in densely populated areas such as childcare centers, boarding schools, or college living areas (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle, & Cheever, 2010). These outbreaks are most common in winter and spring months when risk factors like upper respiratory infections are more likely (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle, & Cheever, 2010). Immunosuppression must be present for this pathogen to invade. Other risk factors for meningitis are otitis media (middle ear infection), mastoiditis (mastoid bone infection) (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle, & Cheever, 2010), systemic sepsis, sinusitis (sinus infection), basilar skull fractures, and the very young and the very old (Porth & Matfin, 2009).

Routine immunization against communicable diseases is one of the greatest accomplishments of modern medicine and our era. However, “the childhood vaccination is declining in some regions of the United States due to vaccine hesitancy, which risks the resurgence of many infectious diseases with public health and economic consequences” (Lo & Hotez, 2017). Due to vaccines and immunizations the human mortality rates have greatly decreased. I believe that protection against diseases should start in infancy according to the recommendation of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Despite of greatest accomplishment of modern medicine “There are ongoing policy debates on the state and national level, including legislation around nonmedical (personal-belief) exemptions for childhood vaccination and possible a special government commission on vaccine safety, which may affect vaccine coverage”(Lo & Hotez, 2017). I believe that as a healthcare provider we need to educate the public about the importance of the vaccination to parents, elders and to immigrant communities. “Nurses and others who advocate for improved health and social policies for children must emphasize children's needs within their families and communities and the importance of coordinated care” (Mason, Gardner, Outlaw, & O’Grady, 2016). The rubeola, mumps and chicken pox diseases are

In 1906 it was first discovered that horses were a viable source to make antibodies that could be used against the meningococcal bacteria. This was then further looked into and made more progress by an American scientist by the name of Simon Flexner. Flexner’s further development of the antibodies from the horses aided in the attempt to lower the mortality rate from the meningococcal disease. (1) The first reported case of using penicillin against meningitis and effectively working was not until over forty years later. Georg Joachmann, in Germany, and Flexner, in America, were the firsts to successfully treat meningitis with introduction of the serum therapy for meningococcal meningitis.

Meningococcal disease is a large concern in the medical field because it is unbiased towards the patients it infects. There has been limited success in trying to eliminate this disease. Antibiotics play a role in helping to treat patients with bacterial meningitis, and steroids have been tested to help reduce risk factors. Prevention has also become a key issue because meningitis can only be spread through direct contact with infected body fluid. The best prevention is to maintain clean hygiene. Vaccines are another way of preventing disease. However, there are multiple serogroups of meningitis that makes creating a universal vaccine extremely difficult. So far, there have only been two