Isn't there a higher rate of pneumococcal in Australia due to the amnount of water play kids have. You are normally advised to keep your pool temp below 30 degrees as if its warmer then the bacteria grows, but i remember reading somewhere that the most common place for kids to catch it from is playing with a hose pipe, the water left in the pipe heats up the bacteria grows so whoever gets blasted with the first water out of the pipe when you have a hose pipe fight gets god knows what all from it. Not sure how accurate this is as its just taken from things i van remember reading maybe ozziedoc can shed more light on it.

Lynn

grape = wine

wine = drink and be merry or

kids
wife
some of the posters

I prefer the earlier option

Wish I could help you here......I ve not much info on microbiology at home, and not sure where to look in terms of govt reports...a google might do it.

According to http://www.grimsby.ac.uk/health/leaflets.html:

"The germs that cause bacterial meningitis are very common and live naturally in the back of the nose and throat. They spread between people by coughing, sneezing and intimate kissing.The germs cannot live for more than a few seconds outside the body, so they cannot be picked up from water supplies, swimming pools or buildings...."

It's amoebic meningitis (not bacterical or viral) that can be caught from untreated swimming pools etc. Often fatal, but fortunately extremely rare.

We have a 2.5 year old daughter. We were told by a very nice doctor here in Perth that the Hep B jab was the only one that she didn't have that they have here in Australia. She explained to us that Hep B was common amongst the Asian population and can be transmitted via sex or sharing needles. Although apparently in close knit families Hep B can be transmitted via sharing of cups, kissing etc - I guess that means saliva.

The Hep B jab consists of 3 innoculations - today, 1 month later and a further 5 months later and there is no cost to the child at our surgery.

We decided to give her this innoculation. Personally (and this really is just my opinion), I believe we as parents have a responsibility to ensure our children are innoculated appropriately to prevent the spread of diseases. I know a lot of other people will disagree with me. I don't know whether she will eventually marry a man of Asian origin or perhaps do a lot of travelling in Asia which is a great possibility as it is so near to Australia so I wanted to make sure she was suitably covered.

I am guessing that the pneumococcal jab you are asking about is the Hep B jap. If I'm wrong sorry to have rambled!! Hope this helps!