Random Analytica

I’ve been watching the news about various measles outbreaks across the globe and wondered how badly Australia had been impacted (or infected). After reading a few articles it dawned on me that no single entity looked after the data as it was a state or territory issue and each state reported infectious diseases differently. Not best practice for highly infectious diseases.

In terms of the measles numbers for Australia. I have put a tentative number of 109 across all states and territories. That eclipses last year’s total of 103 cases and the 81 cases recorded in 2017.

The State by State breakdown with links

• Queensland – Qld Health confirms 13th measles case – SBS, 16^th April 2019.
• New South Wales (NSW) – MEASLES ALERT – EASTERN SUBURBS – South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, 11^th April 2019.
• Australian Capital Territory (ACT) – ACT Health confirms three cases of measles this year amid national outbreak – The Canberra Times, 9^th April 2019.
• Victoria – Further measles cases in Victoria – health.vic, 28^th March 2019.
• South Australia – Measles case in Adelaide – SA Health, 14^th February 2019.
• Northern Territory – Measles Update – Vaccination program extended – Northern Territory Department of Health, 10^th April 2019.
• Western Australia – Free measles vaccinations for adults – Western Australia Department of Health, 26^th March 2019.

If we have broken the measles record for recent years in the first four months one can only guess at the eventual total. One to watch…