Pharmacy Daily | Aussies putting lungs at risk

AUSTRALIANS with obstructive airways disease are falling behind national benchmarks set for vaccinations against influenza and pneumococcal infection. The data comes from the latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report titled Vaccination uptake among people with chronic respiratory disease. “People with obstructive airways disease are at a higher risk of invasive pneumococcal disease,” said AIHW spokesperson Professor Guy Marks. “While those with obstructive airways disease are no more likely than others to experience influenza infection, they are more likely to have complications following influenza infection. “Therefore medical guidelines in Australia recommend influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations for people with obstructive airways disease,” Marks added. According to the report, the vaccination coverage among people with asthma or COPD for those aged 65 or older sits between 60-80%. This figure compares with a 40-70% range for those without asthma or COPD in this age group, whilst for other age groups the proportions are much lower. The report also found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have similar or higher influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates than other Australians in this age group. Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, uptake of both influenza and pneumococcal vaccination is more common among those with asthma than those without asthma and uptake of pneumococcal vaccination, but not influenza vaccination, is higher among those with COPD than those without COPD. “In all groups, uptake of influenza and pneumococcal vaccination is sub-optimal,” the report said.

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