‘This was preventable’: Grieving Australian mother urges free vaccines after son’s sudden death

A grieving parent is urging states to act quickly and help stop a fatal yet preventable disease by making vaccines free.

Meningococcal B is the leading strain of the disease in Australia, accounting for five in six cases in 2022.

But families trying to protect key groups - young children and adolescents - need to fork out about $270 for the two-dose vaccine in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia.

Without it, the disease kills about one in 10 and leaves one-in-four survivors with permanent complications.

Research has also found the jab can reduce gonorrhoea cases in teenagers, an antibiotic-resistant infection that can cause infertility.

With the NSW budget on the horizon, Stacey Charter pleaded with state leaders to ensure other families do not experience the heartache she felt after losing her son to the fast-moving disease.

Days before Christmas in 2022, Stacey noticed her son Brayden was feeling unwell, and two hours later, she found him convulsing and unresponsive.

Despite being rushed to the hospital, the 23-year-old was declared brain-dead later that night.

“No parent should have to endure what we have,” Ms Charter said.

“Brayden’s death could have been prevented.

“That’s why I am pleading with the Minns government and (Health Minister) Ryan Park to act before another family is left heartbroken. I simply don’t understand why they won’t listen.”

The meningococcal B jab is free for First Nations children before their first birthday and people with certain medical conditions under the national immunisation program

But all babies and teens can access it for free under state-funded programs in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland.

Meningitis Centre Australia said NSW needed to follow suit and make preventative health a priority.

It says a NSW program would cost an estimated $20 million per year.

“We are on the brink of peak season; we must act now before any other family is impacted,” Chief Executive Karen Quick said.

NSW lower-house independent MPs, opposition health spokeswoman Kellie Sloane and the Greens also back the call for free vaccines.

A government spokesman said it would respond based on the evidence available, with figures showing only one in every 200,000 NSW residents contracted the disease each year.

NSW’s health minister had asked federal counterpart Mark Butler to consider including the meningococcal B vaccine in the National Immunisation Program, he said.

About 135 Australians contracted all forms of meningococcal disease in 2024, with 46 cases reported this year, the National Communicable Disease Surveillance Dashboard shows.