[Contagious Conversations] Responding to vaccine hesitancy

Contagious Conversations is a new series brought to you by ASID, the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases. Once a month, these podcasts will explore evolving evidence and real-world challenges for the practice of ID medicine. The hope is that you’ll come away with practical knowledge to support your clinical confidence and continuous learning. Expert guests in this series will come from right across the interface of research, clinical care, and public health. Today we start with a paediatrician from Melbourne and a clinical nurse from the Sunshine Coast, who both make an important contribution to Australia’s National Immunisation Program. As we’ll hear today, public adherence to the NIP has been declining in recent years. In today’s conversation we hear about some of the reasons for vaccine hesitancy in parents and ways to reinspire confidence. Guests Professor Margie Danchin FRACP, PhD (University of Melbourne; the Royal Children’s Hospital; Murdoch Children’s Research Institute)Wendy Tout (Public Health Unit, Sunshine Coast Health Service) HostAssociate Professor Sanjaya Senanayake (Canberra Hospital; Australian National University; University of New South Wales)ProductionProduction supported by Mic Cavazzini DPhil, the ASID Vaccine Special Interest Group chaired by Dr Archana Koirala and Inge Meggitt. Music licenced from Epidemic Sound includes ‘Exploring the Lake’ by View Points and ‘Emerlyn’ by Valante. Image copyright with ASID (2026). Add educational activity to MyCPD as educational activity or visit web page for a transcript and references.