Health officials active as Melio cases rise
Public Health Warning
Health officials will hit shopping centres, markets, medical clinics and pharmacies to spread the word about melioidosis to help Far North Queenslanders ‘stay safe from Melio’.
Since January 1, there have been 10 local confirmed cases of melioidosis confirmed in the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service region.
With heavy rains pounding the Cairns region, there has been a spike in melioidosis.
Known locally as melio, it is a bacteria that lives in soil and muddy water.
It can enter the body through cuts and abrasions or be inhaled in tiny water droplets during heavy rain.
“If you’re under 50 and healthy you’re at low risk but if you’re over 50 and have a health condition you need to say safe,” the warning states.
Port Douglas mum of three and emergency department nurse Brooke Rigby last week detailed her saga with melio, a disease which has changed her life and will see her continue treatment and recovery for at least six months.
“I have been immune compromised since 2019 but I’m not a sickly person,’’ Brooke said.
“I am exposed to flu and viruses at work in the emergency department and I rarely get unwell.”
She says her encouragement of medical staff to explore tropical diseases was essential in identifying the issue quickly and treating it swiftly.
“The source of the infection is still unknown… I am so low risk of getting melioidosis,’’ she said.
“I don’t garden - I think I mowed the lawn twice last year - and I don’t play in the mud or do high-pressure cleaning, the ways you can be exposed to the disease.
“But there are two potential ways I might have been exposed. One could be driving past roadworks on my way to Cairns, the other, my husband does work in the mud, and while I might have got it from his uniform, that seems unlikely also.’’
