Arabic version: حالات الحصبة والدفتيريا تثير مخاوف صحية

According to ABC News, Australian health authorities are concerned about rising cases of diseases once considered uncommon, including measles and diphtheria. Australia has held endemic measles-free status for more than a decade after vaccination campaigns eliminated ongoing local transmission, though infections can still be imported from overseas.

A South Australian measles outbreak began after a traveller returned from overseas with the virus. It spread within the Brighton Secondary School community to three students and an adult in their 40s, who was hospitalised. The adult had spent more than 24 hours in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital emergency department, prompting contact tracing. South Australia has recorded nine measles cases so far this year, its highest total since 2016.

SA Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier described the outbreak as disappointing but not unexpected, citing anti-vaccination misinformation and falling vaccination rates since the COVID-19 pandemic. Adelaide University epidemiologist Adrian Esterman said access can also affect vaccination rates, with busy parents and difficulty getting GP appointments among the factors he identified.

Professor Esterman said measles cases have surged overseas, noting that Canada and the United Kingdom have lost their measles-free status and the United States could do so shortly. He said measles, diphtheria and whooping cough are childhood diseases making a comeback as childhood vaccination rates decline. Whooping cough recorded a national spike in cases in 2024.

Australia’s diphtheria outbreak is the country’s largest since records began in 1991, rising to more than 600 cases, including 22 in South Australia. Cases have predominantly affected Indigenous people in outer regional and remote areas across four states and territories. SA Health said infections had plateaued in recent weeks after more than 4,500 vaccines were delivered to far north and south-west communities, with high vaccination levels reported in the APY Lands.