Australia facing worst outbreak of deadly disease in more than 20 years and it could get worse Australia is battling a disease outbreak that has seen some of the country's most vulnerable residents plagued by a life-threatening bacterial infection.
Children are at the highest risk of both contracting the infections and suffering from complications they cause, with Australian authorities concerningly noting that thousands of youngsters aged under two are currently suffering from infections.
Thousands of children aged under two have contracted pneumococcal disease, a dangerous infection caused by the Streptococcus pneumoniae, or pneumococcus bacteria.
The latest figures show that figures have reached their highest proportion since 2002, with children suffering from meningitis, septicaemia and pneumonia at a much higher rate than compared to the early noughties.
But the IFA warns that, unless new immunisations targeting more deadly strains of the bacteria are nationally greenlit, more children will risk death from infection.
