Health officials in the region encourage parents to vaccinate their children against measles

A widespread measles outbreak on the South Island is expected to reach Nelson and Marlborough, according to health professionals.

Dr. Andrew Lindsay, Medical Officer of Health, Nelson Marlborough Public Health, urged parents to ensure that their children are immunized against measles and to be alert to the symptoms of this highly contagious disease.

"Vaccination is the best protection against this life-threatening disease, and New Zealand children should not have measles."

The recent measles outbreak in Canterbury has spread and two cases have been reported in Dunedin.

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Lindsay said a multidisciplinary team had met on Thursday to badyze the situation and take further action and that an incident management team would be set up to prepare for an eventual outbreak.

He added that parents should check their children's vaccination record and that if in doubt, they should call their GP or nurse.

"Children need two doses of MMR vaccine to be fully immunized, but a dose of MMR provides 95% protection."

Lindsay said that there was a perception. Measles was a rare or low-risk disease, but it was a misconception. In 2017, more than 30 people died of measles in Europe.

Nelson Marlborough Health figures show that 87% of 15-month-olds were vaccinated against measles, 10.2% decreased and 2.8% were not vaccinated in time.

Of the four-year-olds, 88% had been vaccinated, 8.8% had decreased and 3.2% had not been completed on time.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Health advised all boards, except Canterbury, to maintain the National Childhood Immunization Schedule for MMR at 15 months and 4 years of age.

At the same time, Pharmac confirmed that a global shortage of measles vaccine had forced the authorities to restrict supply.

The Director of Pharmaceutical Operations, Lisa Williams, said that there was a limited stock of vaccines in the world and that Pharmac's responsibility was to make sure that there was enough stock to meet all the needs of New Zealand.

New Zealand usually uses about 12,000 doses of MMR vaccine per month, or 145,000 doses a year, Williams said.

"We still have three months of supply in our national store and orders arrive regularly to replenish the stock as it is distributed to each region."

"[Pharmac was] continue to work with local and international providers to obtain sufficient volumes of MMR vaccine for all those who need it. "

The vaccine arrived in the region on Friday for distribution to general practitioners.

Dr. Graham Loveridge, spokesman for Nelson's GP, said there were not enough vaccines for everyone, so unvaccinated babies and those who had never had received vaccine were a priority.

He had not seen any cases in Nelson yet, but he reminded people that he was aware of the following symptoms: runny nose, fever, runny eyes and rash of red spots on the face and chest .

"It's important that people do not get too anxious, it's a great incentive to make sure your kids are fully immunized." It's the best thing that one parent can do for his children. "