CANBERRA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Australian health authorities have issued a state-wide warning to residents over a lethal strain of the meningococcal virus.
South Australia (SA) Health, the state's chief medical body, urged parents to vaccinate their children against the potentially lethal B-strain of the virus if they can afford the costly medication.
The warning came after Charlie Mason, a 16-month-old toddler, died at an Adelaide hospital on Thursday, only days after contracting the meningococcal B-strain.
Unlike the C-strain of the disease, the B-strain is not covered under the National Immunisation Program, which provides free immunizations for dangerous diseases. This means that a full course vaccination for the B-strain, which is the most common form of the virus, could cost up to 384 U.S. dollars per child.
Paddy Phillips, the chief medical officer of SA Health, said if parents can afford it, they should have their children vaccinated.
"The vaccine's very effective and, if you've got the money, it would be something to seriously, very seriously consider," Phillips told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Friday.
"It is a rare condition, but it is a tragic condition, obviously (it) can be fatal."
Eliza Ault-Connell, director of Meningococcal Australia and survivor of the disease when she was a teenager, said the B-strain was the most dangerous strain of the disease.
"We see just a handful of meningococcal C cases now in Australia," Ault-Connell told the ABC.
"Meningococcal B is now the most common strain and that makes up around 90 per cent of all cases, but also emerging now is the W-strain."
Ault-Connell said vaccinations for both the B and W strains existed, but the government had rejected three separate requests to have them placed on the National Immunisation Program.
"It's just come back as not being cost-effective enough," she said.
