Meet the expert at the epicentre of COVID-19

EPIDEMIOLOGIST Jenny Dittmer never thought she’d be a crucial part of the Bendigo local public health unit.

Previously a researcher at the Burnett Institute in Melbourne, Ms Dittmer moved to Kyneton at the end of last year before taking up the position at Bendigo Health in July.

Since then, she has been on the frontline of regional Victoria’s battle with COVID-19, most recently assisting with Shepparton’s outbreak.

She said moving from research to being “at the coalface” as part of the public health unit is something that initially excited her.

“I was kind of feeling a bit left out of the response and being like ‘I’m an infectious disease epidemiologist I want to work on COVID’ because it’s the biggest thing that’s going to happen in our lifetime and to be in the position to help in that response, I wanted to do that,” she said.

Tasked to Shepparton’s PHU, Ms Dittmer assisted in making decisions on what to open up and how to manage school campuses affected by COVID-19.

“Shepparton were amazing, they’re such a great team they were super helpful they were really excited for me to be there, it took me a couple of hours to get my head around it and then just break it down, relying on their local knowledge,” she said.

Ms Dittmer said her job involves analysing data and providing context and advice around the information given to her, and she assists where she can around the state, including Melbourne’s northern suburbs.

She is one of two epidemiologists in the regions, with another positioned at Barwon’s public health unit.

“I don’t think I ever imagined I would be able to be in regional Victoria and do this job, in the past these kind of jobs have only been available in the Department of Health in the city,” she said.

“When I did my epi degree, I accepted I would have to be there or in research in Melbourne or a major city. To be able to be regional and do this job is really exciting.”

With an office in the Mollison Street Bendigo Health vaccination hub, Ms Dittmer watches people line up to receive the jab every day and is inspired by the region’s response to vaccines.

She said the focus of the public health unit will soon turn to how to get the last 20 and 10 per cent of the eligible population vaccinated.

“It’s amazing how on-board Bendigo and Loddon Mallee has been for vaccination, the reality is we’re going to get to a point where people aren’t lining up to get vaccinated anymore and there’ll still be a lot of people that we need to be vaccinating,” she said.

“There’s a lot of work we can do around targeting the right communities in the right ways as well.”

Ms Dittmer said public health units are growing and she expects more epidemiologists to be employed, even after the pandemic.

“I have a great desire for the LPHUs to become self-sustained bodies within themselves that are handling the health and wellbeing of Loddon Mallee outside of COVID,” she said.