The killer disease you thought was gone
About this episode
The episode discusses a resurgence of diphtheria in remote Aboriginal communities and the implications for public health.
At least one patient is dead and scores are infected with diphtheria, a disease that haunted humanity for thousands of years and killed millions of children. Vaccines all but eliminated diphtheria, but now an outbreak centred on remote Aboriginal communities has experts seriously worried. What’s causing it - and are we doing enough to fight back? Read more about this story at theaustralian.com.au and see the video by subscribing to our YouTube channel . Read more: Could this outbreak have been stopped? Disease spreads to multiple states It’s not just about vaccination - but it’s an indictment of our nation This episode of The Front is presented and produced by Claire Harvey and edited by Joshua Burton. Our team includes Kristen Amiet, Lia Tsamoglou, Tiffany Dimmack and Jasper Leak, who also composed our music. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
People in this episode
Host: Claire Harvey
Topics covered
- diphtheria
- outbreak
- vaccination
- public health
- Aboriginal communities
- disease resurgence
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Australian
Places: remote Aboriginal communities
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