In late 2015, Tomerong resident Alan Teall was diagnosed with Q fever, and says the potentially fatal infection has taken him and his family “to hell and back” for the past three-and-a-half years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After 20 years as a nurse, he began a property maintenance business in the Sanctuary Point region. As part of his role, he mowed lawns and undertook landscaping maintenance. While mowing, he unknowingly inhaled dried kangaroo faeces.
“Within about six weeks of diagnosis I was staring death in the face,” he said.
“I had become so sick and was absolutely terrified, so was my family because I was going to die.”
The bacterial infection caused a serious decline in Mr Teall’s health and in 2016, he suffered a heart attack and later underwent open heart surgery.
A cow’s valve was used to replace his damaged mitral valve, however it’s only expected to last 10 years.
After Mr Teall learnt about the illness he was suffering from, he became angry and frustrated.
“There was a vaccine out there that could have stopped this,” he said. “I never should have gotten sick.”
For more than three years, Mr Teall has been fighting with NSW Health as well as local, federal and state governments to raise further awareness about Q fever and the available vaccination.
“If I can educate just one person about this dreadful illness I’ll be happy,” he said.
“My life has to mean something, if I can save just one person from this I’ll know I’ve done the right thing.”
Last year, Mr Teall spoke with Labor health spokesman Walt Secord about Q fever, and Mr Secord vowed to raise the profile of the illness.
“The information is out there, but if you don’t know where to look then you can end up like me,” Mr Teall said.
“I’ve been angry and frustrated for a long time and that’s why I chose to do something about it. I wasn’t getting anything from our local members or the health department so I wrote to Mr Secord.
“He called me almost immediately and I finally felt like someone was listening.”
Just last week, Mr Teall received a call from Mr Secord’s office, informing him the Labor government was planning to introduce funding for Q fever vaccines.
On Friday, Mr Teall visited parliament house to hear the announcement first-hand.
NSW Labor Leader, Michael Daley announced his government would fund 8000 vaccinations for at-risk residents in rural and regional NSW as part of its $4 million commitment to combat Q fever.
The vaccinations will be available to people who are currently not covered under employer schemes.
Under this policy Labor will extend the existing vaccinations of workers in key industries as well as young students and teachers in agricultural colleges, all of whom should be vaccinated but are often not.
“I’m really happy,” Mr Teall said.
“There’s still a lot more to do but this is the icing on the cake. Someone is finally doing something about it.”
There’s no simple cure for Q fever and Mr Teall has been suffering with its effects for years, with little to no improvement to his overall health.
Around Christmas time his heart valve became infected and was in-and-out of both Shoalhaven and Royal Prince Alfred hospitals for weeks.
“I have a line that goes into my arm then to my heart to treat my valve,” Mr Teall said.
The valve pumps antibiotics to the infected area, which is fortunately showing strong signs of improvement.
Mr Teall is unable to work again and said while the personal health impacts have been severe, his family and finances have also taken a huge hit.
“My wife Kathy and daughters Emma and Abby are just nervous wrecks, it’s been a terrible time for them,” he said.
“Kathy is the main breadwinner and when you’ve got a mortgage that becomes very stressful.”
Mr Teall says the funding injection into vaccination will have a “huge” impact around the state.
“This $4 million will pay huge dividends into the future,” he said.
“This could be saving the lives of so many people, who just like me, had no idea about Q fever.”
No matter how sick Mr Teall may be, he said he’d continue to raise the profile of Q fever.
“I was turned away so many times but it’s paid off,” he said.
Signs and symptoms
Q fever usually develops two–three weeks after exposure and can include:
- High fevers and chills
- Severe sweats,
- Severe headaches, often behind the eyes
- Muscle and joint pains; and
- Extreme fatigue.
How Q fever is spread
Infection of humans usually occurs by inhalation of the bacteria in air carrying dust contaminated by dried placental material, birth fluids, urine or faeces of infected herd animals.