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Unvaccinated children in Auckland should still return to school today, despite the outbreak of measles, health authorities said.
Photo: 123RF
The counties of Manukau are the most affected, with 23 new cases during the week ending July 12th.
About 50 schools and early childhood centers in Auckland have been affected and the authorities are encouraging vaccination to curb the progression of the disease.
To date, 227 cases of measles have been reported in the Auckland area, including 125 in the Manukau county area, said Julia Peters of Auckland Regional Public Health.
The numbers were increasing with an average of six new cases each day.
About 50 schools and early childhood centers were affected in Auckland, said Dr. Peters.
"Not all of these are in South Auckland, but a high proportion are, so we are working closely with these institutions to help them contain the outbreaks."
She added that schools knew which of their students and staff were not vaccinated and that they could be invited to stay at home if a case of measles broke out in school.
Parents of vaccinated children should feel safe sending their children to school or daycare.
"An MMR [measles, mumps and rubella] the vaccine provides excellent protection against measles.
"Obviously, we would like people to have two, so the first to 12 months and the second to four years, but a vaccination, from our point of view, provides sufficient immunity."
Dr. Peters said children under four and 19-24 were the hardest hit.
Nikki Turner, director of the Advisory Center on Immunization, said it needed a more systematic approach to make sure everyone had been vaccinated.
"Measles is one of the most contagious viruses we have in the world, and if the measles virus continues to affect unvaccinated people, it will continue to spread.
"[It] is directly related to the fact that we have enough people vaccinated to prevent the spread. "
The degree of safety for unvaccinated children to go to school depends on numbers, said Dr. Turner.
"If you had a very high percentage of unvaccinated children, the school would be in danger – remember that our young children have very high vaccination rates."
Adults who were unsure of having been fully vaccinated had to check their immunity.
Gary Jackson, a member of the Manukau District Health Council, said measles was not the only disease that caused concern this winter.
"One of our most general, relatively high respiratory infections for this time of year, especially the flu."
Dr. Jackson reiterated that measles immunization was crucial and health authorities sought to vaccinate more people.
For babies, the age of first vaccination has increased from 15 months to one year.
Dr. Jackson said the outbreak did not spread as fast as the previous ones, suggesting that vaccination levels were higher.
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