Northland daycare at risk after confirmation of measles case

More than seventy Whangarei are isolated after a case of measles in a nativity scene in the city.

Northland DHB said that a young child attending the daycare had contracted measles last Friday, the fifth person diagnosed with the disease in Northland since January.

The center was closed for a week, until June 7th.

The Medical Health Officer, Virginia McLaughlin, said the DHB had found 118 people who had been in contact with the child while she was contagious.

She said that there were now 70 isolated people in Northland, including daycare staff and families who use the center.

"The majority of the staff were not vaccinated and, because of the young age of the children involved, the majority of them have not been vaccinated because it takes four years to receive the second one. MMR vaccine, "she said.

Most of the staff members were not vaccinated and many children were not protected because the babies had not received their first MMR vaccine before the age of four.

She stated that people who had contact with the child and could not prove their immunity had been informed that they had to stay away from work, school and school. public places until next friday.

"It is extremely important that everyone checks their immunity status now, because if you can not prove your immunity and if you are recognized as the contact of a person with measles, that can be enough. disturbing: you may have to stay home for two weeks and have no contact with the public or with people who are not protected, "said Dr. McLaughlin.

Measles is highly contagious – one of the most contagious diseases known – infecting about 90% of non-immune individuals who come in contact with an infected person.

This can lead to serious complications, including relatively rare cases of brain swelling or death.

The disease has increased worldwide in recent years and the number of cases has tripled in the world.

New Zealand has witnessed outbreaks in Canterbury (now declared over), Auckland and Bay of Plenty. Cases have also been reported in the Waikato, Lakes, Capital and Coast and Southern DHB regions.

There is concern that Northland has a high proportion of non-immunized individuals, making an outbreak much more likely, but at least one school found that vaccination levels were higher than expected.

Supporters of anti-vaccination have often been accused of the widespread lack of immunity, but researchers say that an "immunodeficiency" affecting an entire generation is more to blame.

The last case had no apparent connection to the young netball woman who was hospitalized with measles complications last week, the DHB said. She has since been released.