Confirmed Measles Case Visits Auckland

Confirmed Measles Case Visits Auckland

Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) has been notified that a person now confirmed to be suffering from measles visited central Auckland between 22-24 May.

The man took part in the Sky Tower Firefighter Stair Challenge and stayed at the Sky City Hotel, where he visited a local restaurant and other facilities within the Sky City complex.

Anyone who attended the following locations on the dates listed might be at risk of getting measles if they are not immune:

• Sky City Hotel - May 22 - 24
• The Sky City Complex between May 22 - 24
• The Sky Tower Firefighter Stair Challenge event at the Sky Tower - May 23
• The Mexican Café – 22 May

ARPHS urges anyone who visited these locations and is not sure if they are immune to measles to check with their general practitioner. Anyone who was at the locations listed and who is not immune or is unsure should isolate themselves at home from Friday 29th May until Sunday 7th June.

If they become unwell they should call their GP or Healthline. It is vitally important to call first because measles is a highly infectious disease. You can catch it just by being in the same room as someone with measles. It is spread through the air, and someone with measles could easily infect others in a doctor’s waiting room.

The initial symptoms of measles include a fever, running nose, cough and sore eyes. After about 4 days, a raised red rash spreads over the body lasting several days.

“The infected person had contact with a large number of people in Auckland while infectious” says Dr Richard Hoskins, Medical Officer of Health. “Members of the public are urged to be extra cautious.”

“It usually takes 10-14 days for someone who has caught measles to start showing symptoms. If anyone has been infected at the locations listed, they may start to develop symptoms from as soon as this weekend.”

The only way to avoid catching measles is to have had two measles vaccinations at least four weeks apart. Children are routinely vaccinated against measles at 15 months and four years.

Anyone who has had measles is considered immune, which applies to everyone born before 1969. Anyone born in 1969 or later who has not had measles or two doses of the measles vaccine is at risk of catching the disease.

For more information on measles please see Auckland Regional Public Health Service website.

ENDS

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