Health officials hope a measles outbreak in Northland, totalling six cases, is over, but say it serves as a timely reminder to make sure children have their measles vaccinations up to date.
Northland District Health Board Medical Officer of Health Clair Mills said the disease emerged in Northland last month - five of the six cases having had contact with the first case. She had feared the disease could spread further because of the region's historically low immunisation rate.
Measles has hit Waikato, Hawke's Bay and Auckland, but Northland was clear of the disease until an unimmunised Northland child was diagnosed on July 29, after contact with children from Waikato. Five people who had contact with that case had then contracted the disease, but Dr Mills said there had been no new cases in Northland. She hoped the outbreak was over.
The cases were a timely reminder for Northlanders to ensure their children's MMR [measles vaccine] was up to date to prevent catching the disease.
"Even one MMR vaccination can give good protection, but a lot of people in Northland haven't even had one shot." Measles could be a serious illness, one in three sufferers experiencing complications such as ear infections, pneumonia, bronchitis or diarrhoea.
