Melioidosis in the remote Katherine region of northern Australia
Melioidosis is endemic in the remote Katherine region of northern Australia. In a population with high rates of chronic disease, social inequities, and extreme remoteness, the impact of melioidosis is exacerbated by severe weather events and disproportionately affects First Nations Australians. All...
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crplos:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010486 2024-06-23T07:52:48+00:00 Melioidosis in the remote Katherine region of northern Australia Hodgetts, Kay Kleinecke, Mariana Woerle, Celeste Kaestli, Mirjam Budd, Richard Webb, Jessica R. Ward, Linda Mayo, Mark Currie, Bart J. Meumann, Ella M. Tuanyok, Apichai Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Australian National Health and Medical Research Council 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010486 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010486 en eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases volume 16, issue 6, page e0010486 ISSN 1935-2735 journal-article 2022 crplos https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010486 2024-06-11T04:26:23Z Melioidosis is endemic in the remote Katherine region of northern Australia. In a population with high rates of chronic disease, social inequities, and extreme remoteness, the impact of melioidosis is exacerbated by severe weather events and disproportionately affects First Nations Australians. All culture-confirmed melioidosis cases in the Katherine region of the Australian Top End between 1989–2021 were included in the study, and the clinical features and epidemiology were described. The diversity of Burkholderia pseudomallei strains in the region was investigated using genomic sequencing. From 1989–2021 there were 128 patients with melioidosis in the Katherine region. 96/128 (75%) patients were First Nations Australians, 72/128 (56%) were from a very remote region, 68/128 (53%) had diabetes, 57/128 (44%) had a history of hazardous alcohol consumption, and 11/128 (9%) died from melioidosis. There were 9 melioidosis cases attributable to the flooding of the Katherine River in January 1998; 7/9 flood-associated cases had cutaneous melioidosis, five of whom recalled an inoculating event injury sustained wading through flood waters or cleaning up after the flood. The 126 first-episode clinical B . pseudomallei isolates that underwent genomic sequencing belonged to 107 different sequence types and were highly diverse, reflecting the vast geographic area of the study region. In conclusion, melioidosis in the Katherine region disproportionately affects First Nations Australians with risk factors and is exacerbated by severe weather events. Diabetes management, public health intervention for hazardous alcohol consumption, provision of housing to address homelessness, and patient education on melioidosis prevention in First Nations languages should be prioritised. Article in Journal/Newspaper First Nations PLOS Katherine River ENVELOPE(-64.065,-64.065,59.384,59.384) PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 16 6 e0010486 |
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English |
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Melioidosis is endemic in the remote Katherine region of northern Australia. In a population with high rates of chronic disease, social inequities, and extreme remoteness, the impact of melioidosis is exacerbated by severe weather events and disproportionately affects First Nations Australians. All culture-confirmed melioidosis cases in the Katherine region of the Australian Top End between 1989–2021 were included in the study, and the clinical features and epidemiology were described. The diversity of Burkholderia pseudomallei strains in the region was investigated using genomic sequencing. From 1989–2021 there were 128 patients with melioidosis in the Katherine region. 96/128 (75%) patients were First Nations Australians, 72/128 (56%) were from a very remote region, 68/128 (53%) had diabetes, 57/128 (44%) had a history of hazardous alcohol consumption, and 11/128 (9%) died from melioidosis. There were 9 melioidosis cases attributable to the flooding of the Katherine River in January 1998; 7/9 flood-associated cases had cutaneous melioidosis, five of whom recalled an inoculating event injury sustained wading through flood waters or cleaning up after the flood. The 126 first-episode clinical B . pseudomallei isolates that underwent genomic sequencing belonged to 107 different sequence types and were highly diverse, reflecting the vast geographic area of the study region. In conclusion, melioidosis in the Katherine region disproportionately affects First Nations Australians with risk factors and is exacerbated by severe weather events. Diabetes management, public health intervention for hazardous alcohol consumption, provision of housing to address homelessness, and patient education on melioidosis prevention in First Nations languages should be prioritised. |
author2 |
Tuanyok, Apichai Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Australian National Health and Medical Research Council |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hodgetts, Kay Kleinecke, Mariana Woerle, Celeste Kaestli, Mirjam Budd, Richard Webb, Jessica R. Ward, Linda Mayo, Mark Currie, Bart J. Meumann, Ella M. |
spellingShingle |
Hodgetts, Kay Kleinecke, Mariana Woerle, Celeste Kaestli, Mirjam Budd, Richard Webb, Jessica R. Ward, Linda Mayo, Mark Currie, Bart J. Meumann, Ella M. Melioidosis in the remote Katherine region of northern Australia |
author_facet |
Hodgetts, Kay Kleinecke, Mariana Woerle, Celeste Kaestli, Mirjam Budd, Richard Webb, Jessica R. Ward, Linda Mayo, Mark Currie, Bart J. Meumann, Ella M. |
author_sort |
Hodgetts, Kay |
title |
Melioidosis in the remote Katherine region of northern Australia |
title_short |
Melioidosis in the remote Katherine region of northern Australia |
title_full |
Melioidosis in the remote Katherine region of northern Australia |
title_fullStr |
Melioidosis in the remote Katherine region of northern Australia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Melioidosis in the remote Katherine region of northern Australia |
title_sort |
melioidosis in the remote katherine region of northern australia |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010486 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010486 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-64.065,-64.065,59.384,59.384) |
geographic |
Katherine River |
geographic_facet |
Katherine River |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_source |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases volume 16, issue 6, page e0010486 ISSN 1935-2735 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010486 |
container_title |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
e0010486 |
_version_ |
1802644204852084736 |