Vigilance, Not Luck, Helping NZ Avoid Widespread Measles Outbreak
A paediatrician specialising in infectious diseases says the increase in measles cases in the lower North Island is an unfortunate example of just how infectious it is.
The current outbreak in Wairarapa and Manawatū reached eight cases on Thursday.
Health NZ says the cases stemmed from overseas travel.
Dr Emma Best from the Immunisation Advisory Centre said measles "seeks out" people and young children who were not immunised.
"If you're not immune to measles, and you are in the space of somebody who has measles or doesn't know they're getting measles, there's a very, very high chance that you will get measles," she said.
"The spread, the fact that the close contacts of the returned traveller sequentially... we're getting more cases, is unfortunately expected."
With outbreaks in Canada, Australia, parts of the United States and southeast Asia, Best said it was important overseas travellers were vaccinated against measles.
Auckland also saw a measles outbreak earlier in the winter.
Best said vigilance, not luck, meant New Zealand had avoided an outbreak on the scale of other countries so far.
"We've been incredibly vigilant, which is great, and really carefully managing this should there be any single cases that occur, but actually, this has got away from most other countries in the world.
"We know that it's out there, so with any traveller or returned traveller from pretty much any region in the world now, there's going to be some risk.
"New Zealand is working incredibly hard to keep ourselves safe from measles, and that primarily starts with making sure we vaccinate our own population really well and making sure that anyone who travels know they need to be vaccinated, including infants younger than one."
In New Zealand, babies typically received their first measles vaccine (MMR) at 12 months of age and the second at 15 months, but Best said young infants travelling abroad could receive the vaccine to protect them before they go away.
It was "really stressful and concerning" to see people in hospital with diseases, such as measles, that there were vaccinations for, she added.
"Most people want the best for their kids, they want to get vaccinations, they want to have conversations about it. We have got poor rates of vaccinations since Covid, but we're working extra hard to get the message out there."
Anyone travelling overseas with a young child needed to make sure they had all their vaccinations.
"Definitely having a conversation about the measles vaccination, which we can give early in the context of travel, means we can give it to younger than one year of age to protect an infant who's going on a plane, in transit, those types of thing.
"Prepare yourself for travel and stay vigilant when you return for measles-type rashes as well."
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