Children with measles pass infection stage

Measles causes fever and rash and in severe cases can lead to pneumonia, brain swelling, and even death. Photo / Thinkstock

Two children separately diagnosed with measles have stopped being infectious, but health authorities are continuing to look out for secondary cases.

A young child on board Malaysian Airlines Flight 131 flight from Kuala Lumpur to Auckland on February 26 stopped being infectious on Friday, Auckland Regional Public Health Service said today.

But it warned that anyone in contact with the child before Friday could still be incubating the disease and start to show symptoms from eight to 18 days after contact.

The service said it had contacted more than 200 people who may have been exposed, including "most" of the 78 passengers in the Auckland region.

No other cases have been found.

Last week, Canterbury DHB Community and Public Health was notified of a case of measles in a 4-year-old child.

The child had not completed their measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccinations after having received their first dose -- which is given at 15 months -- and was not yet old enough for their second given at 4 years of age.

Canterbury Medical Officer of Health Dr Daniel Williams said the child's parents had done everything right.

The source of the infection is still being investigated.

If a child is suspected of being the index case, CDHB said they would ask for them to be blood tested.

Mozarts Performing Arts kindergarten -- one of two Christchurch preschools the child attended -- said "two or three" unimmunised children were asked to stay away during the risk period.

All children were now safe to return to the kindergarten.

"People who choose not to vaccinate their children against infectious diseases are putting not only their own children at risk, but also other people's children," Dr Williams said.

New measles outbreaks were the result of New Zealand's historically low vaccination rates, said immunisation expert Dr Nikki Turner.

Dr Turner, director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre, told Newstalk ZB that New Zealand had high vaccination rates among young children.

"This is New Zealand history we're suffering from," she said.

"For a long time we had really low immunisation coverage so a large amount of people walking around in the New Zealand community are not vaccinated for measles."

Two other suspected cases notified to Canterbury DHB in the past week have returned negative results.

There had not been any secondary cases, Dr Williams said.

Initial symptoms of measles include a fever, running nose, cough and sore eyes.