The News – 04 March 2015

Overview

• A total of 24 people have been hospitalised from a suspected salmonella outbreak at a school principals’ conference in Brisbane last week, Queensland Health has said.

• Kate Carnell, the current head of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and former ACT chief minister, has revealed details of a teenage struggle with the eating disorder, anorexia nervosa.

• There has been a call for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) to reverse a decision to change the way it delivers GP clinics to Birdsville in south-west Queensland.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 4th March 2015. Read by Rebecca Foster.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-03/dozens-have-suspected-salmonella-outbreak-principals-conference/6276680

A total of 24 people have been hospitalised from a suspected salmonella outbreak at a school principals’ conference in Brisbane last week, Queensland Health has said.

Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said a total of 175 people fell ill after attending the conference at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC).
About 1,200 delegates from schools around the state gathered for the conference.
Dr Young said people had been hospitalised after returning home to multiple locations across the state, and that their conditions varied.
“It’s a moving issue, so people will be going in and out of hospital so I can’t say at this minute in time how many people in time, but 24 people have required hospitalisation to this point,” she said.
“We’re working very closely with the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre to work through the menus that were served while these people attended.
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She said it was a varied menu and they were trying to work out precisely what people ate.
“The usual causes for salmonella infections are poorly cooked meat, poultry and eggs,” she said.
“Of course you can get transmission person to person but given there are so many people unwell we think it’s probably related to the food they all shared.”
Education Minister Kate Jones said she was confident schools were running well despite the absence of some principals.
“We just pray that the principals get well soon,” she said.
General manager of the BCEC Bob O’Keeffe said a full investigation was underway.
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Dr Young said the convention centre was working with the Brisbane City Council to ensure there were no further outbreaks.

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-02/kate-carnell-reveals-teenage-anorexia-struggle/6275178

Kate Carnell, the current head of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and former ACT chief minister, has revealed details of a teenage struggle with the eating disorder, anorexia nervosa.

While it can be hard to imagine Ms Carnell as anything other than a high achiever, she said the disease left her “feeling sick all the time” and having tension headaches.
“What I remember is… feeling really rotten about myself, about what I was doing to others in my life and having an absolute focus on food,” [she said]
Before she developed the condition she had been a good student and an avid tennis player.
“I started to lose weight when I was 12 or 13, when I started to become interested in fashion and boys,” she said.
“What happened of course is that my behaviour was reinforced a lot.
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Her weight dipped to about 30 kilograms.
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Ms Carnell … helped to launch a report commissioned by the eating disorder advocacy group The Butterfly Foundation.
The report showed last year 945,000 people were suffering from an eating disorder, but 1,941 men and women died from such conditions.
All up the socio-economic cost – according to The Butterfly Foundation – was $103.2 billion in 2014.
…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-03/rfds-urged-to-change-outback-gp-clinics-decision/6276660

There has been a call for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) to reverse a decision to change the way it delivers GP clinics to Birdsville in south-west Queensland.

From April, Birdsville GP clinics will be delivered by the Mount Isa RFDS base, as opposed to Charleville.
Diamantina Mayor Geoff Morton said locals were worried they would be evacuated in emergencies to Mount Isa or Townsville, where there was a lack of transport for people to get home and little family support.

“So they have a great family base in an easterly direction, so if they are evacuated from Birdsville and they are taken to Charleville, Toowoomba or Brisbane, they have that great family support and also we have a direct public transport route from Brisbane, Toowoomba, Charleville, so it is very easy to return from hospital,” he said.
He said there had been no consultation with residents on the issue.
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The RFDS said the move would save money but would also mean less clinic cancellations for Birdsville and an improved service.
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Mr Wimpenny said the changes in service delivery would also mean clinic services at Thargomindah could be increased.
He said Thargomindah had been identified as a community with growing needs.

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