Expand vaccine programme, says victim's mum

The mother of a teenager who died of meningococcal disease wants mass vaccinations across the country. File photo / Thinkstock

The mother of a Whangarei youth who died of meningococcal disease wants to see mass vaccinations rolled out across the country, not just in Northland.

The Northland District Health Board this week started a campaign to vaccinate more than 40,000 children and young people following an outbreak of meningococcal C that has claimed the lives of two Northlanders in the past six weeks.

Eighteen-year-old Ben Brown died last month, within days of contracting the disease. His treatment at Whangarei Hospital and White Cross medical centre is under scrutiny after Ben was told he did not have meningococcal.

Ben's mother Wendy Martin said the decision to roll out mass vaccinations in Northland was a good one but it was not enough.

"It needs to go nationwide because it's not just Northland that's getting the outbreak, but it's throughout New Zealand, especially in the North Island."

Mrs Martin acknowledges the cost of a nationwide vaccination campaign but said allocating funding was a matter of priorities.

"It's people's live, you know. We pay our taxes, they waste a lot of money building that waka, $2 million into that, it's going to be open for 11 days. Hello, that could pay for all the vaccinations throughout New Zealand.

"Once you lose someone, you can't replace them. You can't put a price on a life.

"How many deaths do you need to have to start immunising for the C strain?"

The Ministry of Health said there were no plans to run a mass meningococcal C immunisation campaign across New Zealand.

Deputy Director of Public Health Dr Darren Hunt said Northland had experienced a higher rate of meningococcal C than expected but other areas of the country were on par with last year.

"Sadly, as we've seen recently, meningococcal disease can have tragic consequences and like everyone else, our thoughts are with the families who have lost someone to this disease."

Dr Hunt said the ministry sought expert advice on which vaccines to include on the Immunisation Schedule, but meningococcal was difficult because there were several strains.