Measles Alert

He pānui na ngā whare haumanu… he pānui anō e pā ana ki ngā ‘Measles’. Kaua e wareware, kimihia i ngā tohu māuiui.

A gentle notice from our clinics and also a pānui to help whānau to identify the symptoms associated with measles.

What is Measles?

Measles is a highly contagious disease that can be life threatening. While measles can be a dangerous illness with long-term side effects for any child, it has a more than 50% death rate for New Zealand children with low immunity. As well as causing death, measles can cause pneumonia, deafness and brain damage.

The best protection against Measles is the free Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccination.

Young children are usually vaccinated at 15 months and 4 years of age.

In outbreak situations vaccinations can be given to younger children as follows:

• The first scheduled dose can be given from 12 months of age, with the second scheduled dose able to be given as early as 1 month after the first.
• In a severe outbreak, an additional does of measles vaccine can be given from 6 months of age. Babies immunised before they are 12 months old will still need 2 doses according to the standard schedule (15 months and 4 years).

Catch up on your immunisation!

Even if you are an adult, it is important to be up to date with your measles immunisation. Being immunised means you will not only be protecting yourself and your family, you will help stop the disease spreading in your community.

You can get your vaccination from your local GP or Nurse. One dose of MMR vaccine protects about 95% of people and two doses protects about 99% of people. Because measles is so infections, two doses are necessary to prevent outbreaks.

If you are unsure of your vaccination status, contact your GP.

Vaccination is particularly important if you are planning to travel anywhere overseas – to protect yourself and to help prevent outbreaks in New Zealand or elsewhere.

For more information on the 2019 Measles Outbreak, click here.