The age-old question: cracking the code of waning immunity
Robert Cross
Immunologist
Dr Michelle Linterman
is a Program leader at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research.
Along with her team, work is being done to understand how our immune system changes across our lifespan, why vaccines can be less effective in older age, and what can be done to change that.
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5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Gore water now safe to drink
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly Gore District Council has lifted the do not drink notice on the township's water supply following a third day of testing beneath the national limit. The municipal water supply has been off limits since Friday after a monthly sample breached the drinking water standards on Friday. Spokesperson Jason Domigan says levels in one well are still higher than normal, and the council would work with Environment Southland and water regulator Taumata Arowai to find out where the spike is coming from. Elevated nitrate levels pose a particular risk to pregnant women and formula-fed babies, but even relatively low levels have been linked to bowel cancer in some international research. The council says if people are unsure if their tap water is ready to drink, if they've already used the taps for showers, baths or toilets it was likely good to go. "Otherwise, just run the tap for a few minutes before drinking or brushing your teeth." A water tanker would remain at Eccles Street Playground for the next few days for anyone who wanted to access water there.
RNZ News
9 hours ago
- RNZ News
Havelock residents told to boil water as council seeks solution
Photo: AFP The Marlborough District Council is considering temporarily treating Havelock's water supply with ultraviolet light after the regulator issued a boil water notice. Taumata Arowai issued the notice last Wednesday as a precautionary measure due to the risk of parasitic contamination. A new treatment plant was due to be completed by 2028, however, if a temporary solution was found the notice could be lifted well ahead of that date. Council assets and services manager Richard Coningham said the risk of contamination in Havelock had not changed, but the drinking water requirements in the Water Services Act 2021 were more stringent. Water supplies in New Zealand required a multi-barrier approach - a range of processes, procedures and tools to protect and treat water. "Although chlorine is used in the Havelock supply, it doesn't protect from the risk - however small - of protozoa getting into the supply," Coningham said. Protozoa are single-celled parasites, like cryptosporidium and giardia, that make can make people sick. They can be removed from water with filters or inactivated using UV light so they do not pose a health risk. People in Havelock were being told to boil water used for drinking, cooking, brushing teeth and washing food. Coningham said the council was working through a number of options and planned to have a solution by the end of the week. The new $14 million water treatment plant planned for Havelock would use a multi-barrier approach, including filtration, chlorine and UV. "The plant upgrade has been planned for some years and budget is set aside in the council's Long Term Plan. However it has been difficult to secure a new site, with few land options available in the town or nearby," Coningham said. The council had now found a site and was planning and designing a new treatment plant, for completion in early 2028. Land purchase negotiations were in the final stages and a new road would be built to provide access. Construction tendering would follow.
RNZ News
10 hours ago
- RNZ News
Needle exchange changes: 'It takes time to build up trust'
The Christchurch Needle Exchange at the Rodger Wright Centre. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Changes to a decades-long needle exchange contract have left a Christchurch drug-user and health expert worried the decision will breed distrust, potentially leading to needle-sharing. Health NZ has not renewed the contract for DISC Trust, which has operated needle exchange services across the South Island for 35 years and has instead opted for a new provider He Waka Tapu from 30 September. RNZ understands 19 staff are waiting to hear about the future of their jobs, while people who use the service were worried He Waka Tapu might not replicate the "peer-to-peer" approach that made them comfortable using DISC Trust's services. The man, who spoke to RNZ on condition of anonymity, had been using DISC Trust's needle exchange at Christchurch's Rodger Wright Centre for about 10 years. He said DISC Trust staff were knowledgeable and most of them had been drug users themselves. "You're talking to someone who, who really, you know, actually gets it," he said. "There are no ulterior motives. They're not trying to convince you to give up your drugs and go and do treatment. If you want other services or information, you can ask and they'll give you that help, but they're not going to pressure you to go to rehab. "You see people in there who look like they're probably bodybuilders and you see other people that you know are using meth - all sorts of drugs. Whatever you're injecting, that's the place to get your needles from and to get rid of them safely." The man had sought advice about methadone and Hepatitis C treatment and received safe injecting equipment to take methamphetamine and heroin, including getting drugs checked for potency and any unwanted contaminants. DISC Trust also provided advice on overdose prevention and injection techniques that did not lead to tissue damage, he said. The man was concerned He Waka Tapu - a kaupapa Māori health organisation - would not have the same level of impartiality because it also offered a range of rehabilitation and treatment plans. "Just because someone's got the equipment to give out, it doesn't mean that I'm going to trust them. It takes time to build up trust in a service," he said. "I can't imagine, like, doing treatment there and then deciding I'm going to inject some drugs and having to go back to the same place. That would be so embarrassing." Health NZ said the needle exchange contract stipulated that people with "lived and living experience" had significant roles in the design, delivery and leadership of the programme. Needle exchange locations and employment details were still under negotiation, although it was confident there would not be any disruption to services, Health NZ said. When approached for comment, He Waka Tapu referred RNZ to Health NZ, which declined to provide further details. "Health New Zealand is currently negotiating a contract with the preferred provider. It is therefore premature for either Health New Zealand or the provider to respond to your query," Health NZ said. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon DISC Trust executive director Philippa Jones said it ran six needle exchanges from Nelson to Dunedin and staff had about 30,000 "interactions" with drug users each year. She said the trust was "incredibly surprised and disappointed" to loose its needle exchange contract, but it would continue to provide other services such as HIV screening and vaccinations. "We've built a really deep connection with our communities and that's not something that can be replaced overnight, especially for people who are really stigmatised when they engage with the mainstream health system," she said. "This was a service established by the community of injecting drug users, for them. That's a unique feature of the service and that's how it's able to build that significant trust with clients." Jones said DISC Trust was informed of the contract loss on 16 June and staff were yet to hear from He Waka Tapu. University of Otago Professor Jeff Miller said people might re-use or share needles if they did not feel comfortable with the new service. "So you're moving into physical [tissue] damage and you're also moving into potential increase in exposure to hepatitis C in particular," he said. The loss of DISC Trust's needle exchange contract was "bizarre", he said. "It's a source of huge frustration and a little bit of disbelief to see this particular service, which incidentally is the most effective hepatitis C treating service in the country, apparently disappearing off the map," he said. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon RNZ understands funding for South Island needle exchange services has been reduced from $1.4 million to $1 million. Health NZ would not confirm the figures and declined RNZ's interview requests. In a statement, it said funding for regional needle exchange and harm reduction services was allocated based on population statistics. "The national budget for the delivery of needle exchange and harm reduction services and free safe injecting equipment is around $6 million per annum," HealthNZ said. Miller said the shift to a population-based approach was new and concerning, because data suggested the South Island had a higher proportion of people who injected drugs than the rest of the country, so deserved a bigger funding share. DISC Trust distributed about 40 percent of the country's sterile drug equipment, despite Te Wai Pounamu having only 23 percent of the country's total population. Know Your Stuff spokeswoman Casey Spearin said her organisation had worked with the trust to provide drug-checking services and she was also concerned abut the change. "It's disappointing to note that the overall funding amount for this service in Te Waipounamu has been scaled back. We have over three decades of evidence showing that needle exchange services reduce the burden of disease and other downstream effects on our health services and save taxpayer money," she said in a statement. "While we are pleased to see that He Waka Tapu provides wraparound support and whānau and tikanga-based approaches, there are likely to be some impacts when transferring needle exchange services to a new provider. "Ideally, He Waka Tapu would have been brought on to complement the existing services provided by DISC and helped provide these vital services to more people who need them." Health NZ said the services would transition to He Waka Tapu over the next two months and it was confident staff would "deliver the required services to people who inject drugs and who live in Te Waipounamu". 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