On behalf of friend

[Poider]

Do you remember 1983 if so read on. I am not expecting anybody to remember this I asked on Facebook and got no replies most likely because no body knew the answer or remembers. I have tried different search engines with different search queries and have come up with nothing over the years I have asked people that are older enough to remember but no body does. I know its a long shot posting this here but I am really starting to feel I imagined it. Even though I know it was real at the time it happened and to be honest you most likely would not remember it unless you were touched by it yourself I know I would not remember it other wise.


So here we go. It would have been within the first 6 months 1983 a mysterious virus/flu/illness hit Australia that only seemed to affect babies aged up to about 6 months of age many babies all over the Country died from this there was newspaper and TV warnings at the time telling parents to watch their kids for symptoms. It started with a very basic and normal runny nose and within a few hours they got a temperature that started off mild and very fast got really high it was killing babies very quickly as parents thought the baby only had a common cold. So was not so but if medical help was not sought fast the baby would die. They did not know how to treat it and so Drs did the best they could by keeping the temperatures down and giving antibiotics. But it hit like a time bomb and left just as sudden as it hit. so fast in fact they had no time to identify the illness at all they did give it a name but it was more as an Identifier so Drs could say this was it or not it. I can't remember the name they gave it but I think it was gold or something but that could be totally wrong as well.

I have been trying to find out about this on and off for years now. My Daughter had it and I almost lost her so I was not watching the TV or reading papers but my mum read and heard about it and also from what I was told by Drs they believed this is what she had. Anyway if you can remember this even if only very vaguely please let me know. I feel that I am going nuts trying to find this information out and I don't know who to contact over this if you do know or remember this what ever information you can give me will be a big help. Especially if you know the name.

[metallion58]

Not sure but it sounds like Pertussis (whooping cough).
Perhaps a search in that area would lead to an answer.

[SwissJon]

Are you sure you aren't thinking of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome?

[MindyRaeL]

Originally Posted by metallion58

Not sure but it sounds like Pertussis (whooping cough).
Perhaps a search in that area would lead to an answer.

Pertussis can takes weeks to get severe enough to kill. Babies usually need to be hospitalized, but it's not normally deadly if caught. It's treated with common anti-biotics. The only reason I know is because my little guy is allergic to the vaccine, and the disease tends resurface every five years or so, so I'm crazy about looking out for the symptoms.

It sounds closer to the measles to me. Measles starts out with common cold symptoms, but can kill very very quickly and is highly contagious. Children don't get their first measles vaccine until 12 months old, so that could be why it was affecting kids 6 months and under?

Have you tried going to a public library and looking at newspapers from that year? They may have some kind of archive or something you could look through. Good luck! Hope you find out what it is.

[Biomech]

I'm afraid I'm British and was 2 at the time. However, for the lulz, I Googled
"1983 australian baby epidemic" and "1983 australian baby pandemic"
And all results for both queries pointed to AIDS :P

Could only find SIDS in relation to 1983
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-05-0...e-1983/1562176

[doctorjames]

could it be this:?...

A report of a spring-summer outbreak of echovirus I... [J Infect. 1983] - PubMed - NCBI

I doubt it would be whooping cough, as that wouldnt have been a mystery, though it can kill very quickly.

[doctorjames]

Originally Posted by Biomech

"1983 australian baby epidemic" and "1983 australian baby pandemic"
And all results for both queries pointed to AIDS :P

It would be unlikely to be AIDs at this stage, as there were very very few instances of vertical (maternal to baby) transmission at this time, especially in aus.

[Vincent_G]

I didn't have kids then so it wasn't something I paid any attention to, but I'll ask my sister if she can remember. My niece was born in May of 1983.

Found this info on the web .. In 1982 the vaccine Pneumovax 14 commenced to treat Pneumococcal disease.

[Poider]

Thank you all I will pass these links on and see if they help.
Peter

[faeriegodess612]

Originally Posted by Biomech

I'm afraid I'm British and was 2 at the time.

Dude,..your only 3 years older than me? I was thinking you'd be older. idk why.