Measles at
schools in your area
Since December 2013 there have been more than 140 confirmed cases
of measles in New Zealand. In the past
few weeks the majority of these cases have been in school aged children in the
Waikato.
Measles is
a highly infectious disease that affects both adults and children. Measles is more serious than many people
realise; of the recent cases in New Zealand over 30 have required hospital
treatment. Measles starts with a fever, cough, runny nose and/or sore eyes
followed a few days later by a rash.
People are infectious from 5 days before to 5 days after the rash
appears.
Most of
the recent cases have occurred in unimmunised people and immunisation, with two
doses of the measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine, remains the best way to
prevent infection and spread of measles within the community. Immunisation is free for New Zealand
residents born after 1 January 1969 who have not previously received two doses of
a measles containing vaccine.
Unimmunised people exposed to measles will need to stay away from school
for at least 14 days. So please
encourage students, parents and staff to get immunised as soon as possible.
What schools can do:
1) Inform staff, students,
parents and caregivers about the current measles cases in your area.
2) Ask staff, students, parents
and caregivers to make sure that their immunisations and their children’s
immunisations are up to date. If they
are unsure, encourage them to check with their family doctor.
3) If someone develops symptoms
of measles, separate them from others while they are waiting to be taken home
and call Healthline on 0800 611 116 for advice as soon as possible.
4) Record the names of students
who are not immunised. This will enable
public health officials to quickly identify those at risk should the need
arise.
5) Ensure that people with
measles, and unimmunised people who have been exposed to measles, do not attend
school while they are infectious.
For further information on measles and measles immunisation please visit the
Ministry of Health website http://www.health.govt.nz/measles or the Immunisation Advisory Centre website http://www.immune.org.nz. You can also
call the Immunisation Advisory Centre toll-free on 0800 IMMUNE (0800 466 863)
for advice.
