Firefighters put on spot by measles

The health board contacted the Fire Service on Thursday and yesterday contacted every firefighter who had taken part.

The Sky Tower Challenge has created a different sort of challenge for Northland health officials after a measles scare sparked by one of the 750 stair climbers.

The annual fund-raiser, held last weekend, sees firefighters from around the country run up the Auckland landmark's 1103 steps while weighed down with 25kg of equipment and breathing from an oxygen tank.

This year's event raised a record $1 million for Leukaemia and Blood NZ but inadvertently created a headache for public health staff, who have to contact everyone who may have been in contact with a competitor who has since come down with the measles.

About 45 Northlanders took part from 14 brigades, from Ahipara to Mangawhai, accompanied by a large number of supporters. If any have been infected they are unlikely to develop symptoms until Monday because the virus takes about 10 days to make itself felt.

Northland medical officer of health Clair Mills said competitors born before 1969, when measles was rife, were likely be immune. Younger adults were the concern.

The health board contacted the Fire Service on Thursday and yesterday contacted every firefighter who had taken part. They were advised to isolate themselves if they developed any symptoms and call, not visit, their GP because the virus was so infectious. They could also phone Whangarei Hospital.

If anyone had been infected, yesterday was the earliest symptoms could have begun. The last possible date was around June 9.

Symptoms started with a runny nose, red or watery eyes, a cough and then a fever. Four to five days later a rash started behind the ears, the head and neck, then spread to the rest of the body.

Measles could lead to serious secondary bacterial infections, such as pneumonia or ear infections, in the young. It could be fatal to people with suppressed immune systems, Dr Mills said.

Of the six Hokianga people who developed measles last year, two - one child and one adult - ended up seriously ill in hospital. Northland's immunisation rate was currently about 90 per cent but the health board wanted it at least 95 per cent.

While in Auckland, Waipu firefighters visited leukaemia patient Sandra Bogart in hospital. Because the visit took place before the challenge, and measles is not infectious until symptoms start, their chances of passing on the virus were nil. The firefighter confirmed as having measles is from Palmerston North and stayed at Sky City Hotel on May 22-24.