The Australian Immunisation Handbook 10th Edition 2013

greater risk and/or severity of IPD. 1,2,10,11 Indigenous populations in developed
countries, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia,
have a disproportionately high burden of IPD. 1,12,13
4.13.3 Epidemiology
The highest incidence of IPD is seen at the extremes of age, in young children
and the elderly. 5,7 In Australia, vaccination with 7-valent pneumococcal
conjugate vaccine (7vPCV) was first funded under the NIP from mid-2001, to
5 years of age for Indigenous children living in Central Australia and children
with specified predisposing medical conditions, and to 2 years of age for non-
Indigenous children living in Central Australia and Indigenous children in the
rest of the country. One dose of the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide
vaccine (23vPPV) at 18–24 months of age, as a booster following a primary
7vPCV schedule, was also funded for Indigenous children without predisposing
medical conditions living in jurisdictions with the highest incidence of IPD (the
Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia). From
January 2005, NIP-funded 7vPCV was extended to all infants nationally, together
with catch-up vaccination for all children aged