AMA VICDOC Winter 2025 - Magazine - Page 28
P RO F J I M B U T T E RY
Prof Jim Buttery (MD, MSc, FRACP
(Paediatric), MBBS) is a paediatric
infectious disease physician who has
seen firsthand how impactful a robust
vaccination program can be. The first
meningitis vaccines of Haemophilus
influenzae type B vaccine were introduced
as he underwent his specialist paediatric
training, in the 1990s.
“When I started, the wards were full
of babies with meningitis. But within
two years the Australian Government
introduced the Hib vaccine or Haemophilus
influenzae type B and within another
couple of years, Hib just disappeared
from the wards,” says Jim.
“It was a great inspiration for the power
of effective vaccine progress. Haemophilus
influenzae type B meningitis is now rare.
It was an incredible lesson in the power
of vaccination to protect a population.”
Today Jim is a clinician, researcher, and
Professor of Child Health Informatics at
the University of Melbourne. He leads the
Epidemiology Informatics Research Group
and is Head, Signal Detection, SAEFVIC
at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
(MCRI), and is co-director of the Global
Vaccine Data Network, a network of over
34 countries collaborating on using data
to better understand vaccine safety and
effectiveness based at the University of
Auckland in New Zealand.
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AMA VI C TO RIA
HOW VICTORIA’S VACCINATION
RATES COMPARE
-
Data from the Australian Immunisation
Register shows that, as of September 2024,
Australia’s average coverage rates for one-,
two-, and five-year-old cohorts are all lower
than the national target rate of 95%.
Victoria achieved 93.01% for oneyear-olds, 91.42% for two-year-olds, and
94.76% for five-year-olds – not the lowest
achieving state in the country, but not
the highest either. Overall, the coverage
for recommended immunisations in
the schedule for Victoria in 2024 has
continued to drop from 2021’s relatively
high rates.
Jim says there are two components to
under-immunisation: hesitancy or doubts
that result in somebody not ever receiving a
vaccine, and delays that increases a person’s
window of vulnerability. The latter is
particularly concerning for under-fives who
are not being vaccinated on time – and
often especially at risk if they do fall ill.
“Even though most of the kids who are
at 91.3% at two have caught up by the time
they're five, their window of vulnerability
is larger because they haven't received the
vaccines on time. That’s a real concern.”
Jim is keeping a close eye on an increase
in vaccine hesitancy in Australia and
around the world – as reflected in lower
immunisation rates – what causes it, and
how it is starting to play out in poorer
health outcomes, particularly in children.
