Bay of Plenty measles outbreak slows

Health officials recommend getting immunised against measles. Photo / File

An outbreak of the measles in the Bay of Plenty appears to have slowed.

Medical Officer of Health for Toi Te Ora Public Health Dr Neil de Wet confirmed there had been no new measles cases reported for three weeks.

De Wet said Toi Te Ora Public Health had been continuously monitoring the situation and the last of the cases were in people who had already been placed in quarantine, so they did not pass on the infection.

There have been 20 confirmed cases of measles in the Bay of Plenty since the beginning of April.

The last known confirmed case in the Bay of Plenty was on May 24.

Nonetheless, the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) immunisation advice for the Bay of Plenty remained the same.

Measles was an extremely contagious illness and could be spread by simply sharing indoor air with an infected person.

De Wet said it was important that parents ensure their children received their free routine MMR immunisations on time at 15 months and 4 years of age.

Anyone who had missed getting these routine childhood MMR immunisations should speak to their family doctor about catching up, he said.