Measles is nine times more infectious than Covid-19. File photo. Photo: AFP / nobeastsofierce / Science Photo Library
New Zealand's latest measles case could have nightmare consequences from a medical perspective, a leading paediatrician says.
Dr Owen Sinclair is among many medical experts with grave concerns for vulnerable groups if there is a measles outbreak in Auckland.
Health alerts have been issued after a new measles case was confirmed yesterday, with people in Auckland asked to check if they could have been exposed.
Health New Zealand said the case was linked to overseas travel in Asia, and the person with measles had been at Woolworths Kelston, on Fullers360 ferries, and at an Auckland carpark during the time they could be infectious.
More locations of interest - including a second supermarket and a West Auckland pharmacy - were confirmed late this afternoon.
Woolworths has confirmed 22 staff members are now considered close contacts.
"We were notified by Health NZ yesterday that a measles case visited our Kelston store on 3 May, and we are following Health NZ's advice. 22 of our team have been identified as close contacts and have been sent home as needed," said the Woolworths statement to RNZ.
Symptoms of measles include fever, coughing, runny nose, sore red eyes and conjunctivitis, while people with measles can also sometimes get a rash that starts on the face and gradually spreads down the body to the arms and legs, lasting up to a week, said Health NZ.
Dr Sinclair (Te Rarawa) said measles was a danger to people who were not immunised and was nine times more infectious than Covid-19.
"From a medical perspective and from a paediatric perspective, this is like a nightmare," he said.
"Measles is an extremely serious disease, it's one of the diseases that have plagued humans for a long period of time.
"The last time we had sort of an outbreak in Auckland, it was attributed to two deaths in New Zealand, and then the measles that occurred here moved to Samoa and 83 people died over there.
"We really thought we'd got rid of it, but now it's come back due to a number of reasons," said Dr Sinclair.
Dr Sinclair said low rates of vaccination were often caused by difficulty in accessing immunisation healthcare.
"To get immunised, you need a residence, you need a phone, you need transport but if you have any gaps in those ones, you actually find it quite hard," said Dr Sinclair.
"Our system has also been under quite a lot of pressure with quite a lot of breakdown in the role of primary care so particularly in rural areas, places like Northland, a lot of people don't have access to a GP and the GPs still make up the vast majority of places where immunisations occur.
"So the main reason that we identified when the taskforce was actually systemic errors and that we haven't really got a fully functional system.
"There are large gaps in our immunisation coverage in Aotearoa. The groups that are most at risk are the groups that have got the lowest immunisation coverage and that's Māori living in rural areas," he said.
Health New Zealand's latest statistics showed about 44 percent of Māori and 49 percent of Pasifika were fully immunised at 18 months.
New Zealand's overall vaccination rates against measles is at about 80 percent, according to Health NZ.
Earlier this month, Health Minister Simeon Brown said the government was targeting 95 percent of children being fully vaccinated by 24 months.
Dr Sinclair said at 95 percent coverage, New Zealand would effectively have herd immunity.
"The current goal is to get 95 percent at 24 months, but I think we'll need to move on from there and get it at 12 so that when you get immunised for measles is at 12 months and 15 months.
"So if there is an outbreak, it's really important that people get their tamariki immunised on time.
Dr Dame Teuila Percival - New Zealand's first Samoan paediatrician - said children and babies were most at risk.
"Anyone who's not immunised is at risk, but particularly babies and young children or anyone who has reduced immunity.
"What we saw in 2019 was a lot of babies and children and young adults got measles because the young adults had only had one of their immunisation vaccinations or they'd had none, so they were vulnerable to infection as well.
"That was the sort of picture we saw in Samoa as well in 2019. Children, babies and adults, but the ones we worry most about that end up in hospital and intensive care are babies and young children.
Dame Teuila said the consequences of contracting measles could be life-threatening for a child.
"It affects the respiratory tract, the skin and certainly children can get dehydrated, they get vomiting and diarrhoea and some children can have encephalitis or involvement of the brain as well.
"We see a lot of children who are sick enough to stay home and have a few days at home and be but we see a lot of children that are hospitalised.
"In 2019, when we last had an outbreak of measles, we saw a significant number of children needing to come into hospital for IV treatment and oxygen and some children need to go to intensive care.
"So, it's just that it's a viral condition that affects some children more than others but the potential is you could end up in hospital or in intensive care," she said.
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