antallergy.org

Download Questionnaire Here

Background Information

Can you spare 20 minutes of your time to fill out a simple questionnaire about your property and the presence or absence of the jack jumper ant?

The School of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Tasmania is conducting a survey to find out in which suburbs of Hobart jack jumper ants are likely to occur in and which suburbs they are unlikely to occur in. We require participants who are willing to spare 20 minutes of their time to fill out a simple questionnaire about their house and garden and whether the jack jumper ant is present or not.

The answers that participants provide in the survey will guide future management recommendations to minimise the threat to humans from jack jumper stings by helping to predict and identify areas of Hobart and surrounds where there is a high risk of a human–jack jumper encounter.

It is important that we receive questionnaires from participants who have gardens without the ant just as much as we receive them from participants who have seen ants in their gardens. So even if you have never seen a jack jumper ant in your garden, we are still interested in hearing from you.

If you would like us to send you a copy through the mail, or further information, please email providing your address or call John on 0407 224 032.

To register as a new participant on the Jack Jumper Immunotherapy Programme at the Royal Hobart Hospital simply call the Jack Jumper Allergy Clinic on 03 6222 7599.  You will be asked to provide your name, postal address and contact phone number and details will be forwarded to you.

With the coming of daylight saving, Jack Jumper season has also well and truly arrived in Tasmania.  Many people are now reporting living with daily sightings of ants and sufferers with allergy to the sting of the ant are now on alert having to put their action plans into place.

During the following months, antallergy.org will be stepping up its campaign to highlight the urgency of the current situation facing both sufferers, and those who are yet to discover that they too have a life threatening allergy to the sting of the Jack Jumper ant.

Ant Sting Register

Over the coming months, antallergy.org will be seeking ways in which to establish a register of people that have been admitted for emergency treatment for anaphylactic reaction to Jack Jumper ant stings in Tasmania.

This register will include recent and past admissions, and will form an invaluable record of the severity and prevalence of Jack Jumper sting Allergy in Tasmania.

Ant Allergy Car Stickers now available!

If you would like an Ant Allergy Can Kill car sticker, they are now available from Melanie Gordon for a gold coin donation.  For further information please call Melanie on 6231 9888.

Currently, around 12,000 Tasmanians are known to suffer a serious allergy to Jack Jumper Ant stings. Of these, around 4000 are highly allergic, having experienced the condition known as anaphylaxis which puts them at a significant risk of death.

An internationally renowned clinical trial conducted at the Royal Hobart Hospital, has developed the only known effective vaccine that can prevent life-threatening reactions in these people.

Research funding that has provided this treatment to 60 trial participants for the last four years runs out in December 2005.

If the programme is discontinued, access to this life-altering treatment will be denied and preventable deaths may occur.

antallergy.org has been established to request that the Tasmanian Government immediately allocate the funding necessary to provide life saving treatment to those Tasmanians at the greatest risk of death.

Jack Jumper Ant Allergy in Australia

It is estimated that up to 50,000 people throughout south eastern Australia are known to suffer a serious allergy to Jack Jumper Ant stings.

With the knowledge that a 100% effective vaccine has been developed through an internationally renowned Tasmanian trial, antallergy.org is also calling on the Tasmanian government to work with other State and Commonwealth governments to make the treatment available to sufferers throughout Australia.

This website has been established to provide ongoing advocacy, support and to raise community awareness about this debilitating condition.

This website is not intended to be used to promote or replace medical advice and we would urge you to read and take note of our disclaimer.

Jack jumper homes in focus

A University of Tasmania research student is hoping to unlock some of the secrets of one of the state’s most painful residents - the jack jumper ant.

The jack jumper is less than a centimetre long, with a black body and orange pincers, and delivers a painful sting which can be lethal to people who are highly allergic.

Masters student, John Evans, is distributing a questionnaire to try to establish which soil, vegetation and climate types the ant prefers.

He hopes the information collected will help people with allergies either avoid high-risk areas or minimise existing dangers.

"They’re infamous really, everybody’s got an opinion about jack jumpers, yet there isn’t actually that much research on their biology or ecology so that’s one of the things I’m trying to achieve,” he said.

Mr Evans is getting some early indications on the ants’ preferences.

“At the moment I’m sort of getting the inkling that they prefer sort of drier vegetation types and drier environments,” he said.

“They like a bit of sunlight, not too much canopy cover, basically.

“So they need a bit of warmth, ants aren’t very good at maintaining their own warmth.”

The questionnaire is available at http://www.antallergy.org, and will soon be available on the university’s website.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/31/2203199.htm

On the 27th February 2006 the Project Team, consisting of Dr Konrad Blackman, Michael Wiese, Sandra Ahokas and Judy Hawker commenced in their new positions for the Jack Jumper Allergy Program at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

A Steering Committee has been established to oversee the progress of the project, and the Business Case has been approved by Senior Management of the Department of Health and Human Services. 

The immediate challenges for the project team include:

• Harvesting ants, extracting and preparing venom for injection
• Development of laboratory assays to ensure the quality of the venom
• Discussions with key stakeholders, including Paediatricians, Emergency Physicians, General Medical Physicians and General Practitioners
• Development of Treatment Protocols

The overall aim of these activities is to provide the safest and most effective treatment for those who are unfortunately allergic to the sting of the jack jumper.

As you can appreciate, there are a number of unknowns, so at this stage we are still unclear as to when treatment will be able to begin, however, over the next couple of weeks we will be meeting with key stakeholders, and will keep you informed of our progress.

The next meeting of antallergy.org is on Monday 7th August at 6pm.

The next Antallergy meeting will be held in Seminar Room One, Level One, Clinical Research Centre, Hobart.

Entry is off Campbell Street (24 Campbell Street) - close to the corner of Collins and Campbell street.  Look for a white double door frame with glass panels.

The first floor is up 3 sets of stairs!

For further information, contact Melanie Gordon on 03 6231 9888

All welcome.

The online petition has now closed, with a total of 1021 signatures.  The paper based petition, along with a hard copy of the online petition will now be tabled in parliament.  Many thanks to all of those who signed, distributed and collected.  After counting, the final signature count will be posted on this site and is expected to be well over 3000 signatures.

The Mercury

FRI 13 JAN 2006

A TEENAGE girl was flown by helicopter from Bruny Island last night, after being bitten by a jack jumper.

Tasmania Police said the girl had a serious allergic reaction and needed urgent medical help.

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter was called to Moorina Bay on Bruny Island about 6.45pm and transported the girl to the Royal Hobart Hospital for treatment.

Ambulance Service Tasmania said the teenager had a previous history of allergic reactions and the medication she carried with her ensured her situation did not become critical.

antallergy.org would like to wish all its supporters a safe and peaceful 2006.

On Sat 5/11 at the annual Lions Clubs of Tasmania convention, Dr Konrad Blackman gave a presentation outlining the Royal Hobart Hospital Jack Jumper Immunotherapy Programme, noting the breakthrough that had been made with additional government funding announced on Fri 4/11.

At the conclusion of the presentation Lions District Governor, Barrie Bremmner presented Dr Blackman with a Cheque for $6,700 towards the programme - particularly noting the fine individual effort of the Kingborough club. The Lions Club will be running their fundraising project to raise money for the Jack Jumper Research Programme for the next twelve months.

After months of lobbying, antallergy.org welcomes the announcement on Friday by David Llewellyn, Minister for Health, that the State Government is now committed to continuing the Jack Jumper Immunotherapy Programme at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

Mr Llewellyn announced that not only would the current trial continue, with original trial participants continuing to receive their treatment, but also that there would be an extension of the trial over a five year period, with an intake of 100 new patients per year.

antallergy.org welcomes this announcement, and extends its sincere thanks to all who have contributed and supported this vital public health programme.

The Mercury

SAT 05 NOV 2005

By MICHELLE PAINE

HUNDREDS of Tasmanians allergic to jack jumper ants are expected to volunteer for treatment after a long-awaited extension of trials.

The Royal Hobart Hospital project would be funded to treat about 100 Tasmanians a year for five years, Health Minister David Llewellyn said yesterday.

Participants are desensitised with a series of injections using ant venom, with treatment described as 100 per cent effective in an article published by prestigious medical journal The Lancet.

Maria Fletcher, of Colebrook, near Richmond, said she lived with constant fear of a fatal bite, moving into town for the peak summer season.

Ms Fletcher, research officer for the antallergy.org support group, said the need for treatment would prompt many people to join the trial.

``Living with a life-threatening allergy is indescribably difficult,’’ said Ms Fletcher, who has given up a range of outdoor activities and been bitten several times, each time with worse effect.

```You no longer have the life you took for granted and you live in fear the next sting will kill you,’’ she said.

Mr Llewellyn said he had not succeeded so far in getting funding from other states, although people there could benefit.

STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS
Antallergy.org

Mr QUICK (Franklin) (4.06 p.m.)­ Tasmanians affected by an allergy to jack jumper ant stings are biting back with the formation of a support and advocacy group. Calling itself ‘Antallergy.org’, this group hopes to work with the health minister in Tasmania, David Llewellyn, to ensure that the internationally renowned jack jumper immunotherapy program, currently conducted at the Royal Hobart Hospital, continues into the future.

Over the past four years the program has seen the development of a 100 per cent effective vaccine, but further funding is needed before it can be made widely available to the 12,000 Tasmanians and over 50,000 Australians who are currently affected by jack jumper ant stings.

Representatives of antallery.org met with Ross Brown and Bruce Kemp of Minister Llewellyn’s office on 14th October to discuss progress on the recent budget submission which requests ongoing funding for the Jack Jumper Immunotherapy Programme at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

The budget is now before the Minister and under consideration.

antallergy.org welcomes the Minister’s consideration of the request to fund the programme from July 2006, but is increasingly concerned about the delay in response to the primary request that bridging funds be made available immediately to ensure that the programme continues from January 2006, and that treatment is extended beyond the trial participants to those who are at immediate risk of death.