Three measles cases in Canterbury prompts warning

February 15, 2011

Canterbury District Health Board’s Community and Public Health Division has been notified of three confirmed cases of measles in Christchurch this month.

The first case became infected after contact with a person who arrived in New Zealand from Sydney in January with measles. The second case was visiting Christchurch from Melbourne, to attend a wedding. The third case is a secondary school pupil. Two cases were unimmunised and one case had only one MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) vaccination.

Measles is a serious illness and one out of every ten people who catch it will need to be hospitalised. The MMR vaccine offers the best protection against measles. Two doses are required to give maximum protection. These are usually given at around 15 months and four years.

Currently there are 15 confirmed cases in the Auckland region and two confirmed cases in Wellington.

Canterbury Medical Officer of Health, Dr Ramon Pink, says all cases have been very unwell with their illness, requiring time away from work and school.

“It is a powerful reminder to parents to make sure their children are immunised. All caregivers, particularly those concerned that their children could be at risk in this outbreak, should check their children’s immunisation record and if they have not been immunised contact their GP and arrange for it to be done,” Ramon Pink said.

The MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccination is an effective vaccine, giving life-long immunity.

Anyone who is concerned that they or a family member may have measles should phone their General Practice team. Symptoms of the disease include:

• At first, a fever, runny nose and sore red eyes (conjunctivitis),
• After a few days, a red blotchy rash appears which lasts for up to a week. The rash usually starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body.
• spots on the inside of the mouth

It’s important to call your doctor first as measles is easily spread from person to person through the air. Phoning ahead helps ensure people with measles do not end up sitting in a waiting room, potentially spreading the illness to others.

Measles is now uncommon in New Zealand thanks to vaccination. There were three outbreaks in 2009/2010, all of which were started by people who were infected overseas.

ENDS

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