The measles outbreak is a wake-up call not to be complacent about vaccinations. Photo / File
The measles outbreak is a wake-up call not to be complacent about vaccinations. Photo / File
Editorial
EDITORIAL:
The number of measles cases confirmed in New Zealand is now scarily past the 1000 mark.
The vast majority of those — at least 881 at the time of writing — are in Auckland, and the majority of those are in the Counties Manukau DHB area.
While the outbreakhas not officially been labelled a crisis, the fear and anxiety are palpable, especially as harrowing personal stories emerge.
And, with several adults and children hospitalised from the disease - including one or two critically ill - medical professionals fear it is only a matter of time before there is a fatality, or a victim is left with serious brain injuries.
The situation has become something of a perfect storm - for schools in particular. A well as Saturday sports, the outbreak is coinciding with the tail end of the ball season, sports tournament week, and - from tomorrow - the week-long annual Anchor AIMS Games in Tauranga, which attract 11,500 youngsters from 368 schools from throughout New Zealand, Asia and the Pacific.
The potential for the highly contagious disease to spread there is a significant concern and organisers and public health officials are working to mitigate the risks involved with such a large concentration of young people.
Anti-vaxxers are copping a lot of the blame in the midst of the outbreak. Certainly, there can be little tolerance for those whom health professionals say are "misinformed and misinforming others" - often with scare tactics, when the pressing dangers of measles are all too real.
There is a social responsibility element required for "herd immunity" - a 95 per cent immunisation rate that keeps us safe as a population. Photo / File
At this stage, however, the blame game is not helpful. There are likely to be other factors at play, too. As well as some wariness, some people may be genuinely unaware of the importance of vaccines, may have forgotten their and their children's immunisation status, or may have moved homes and "got lost" between GPs and DHBs.
However, this is certainly a wake-up call not to be complacent.
Individuals need to understand the social responsibility element required for "herd immunity" - a 95 per cent immunisation rate that keeps us safe as a population. Check the family's immunisation status - through your GP, who should have your medical records, your Plunket or Well Child/Tamariki Ora book. If you can't find your records or are unsure of your status, the message is to get vaccinated, which can be done simply through your GP.
This is also a wake-up call for the Government and public health officials to ensure whether our current vaccination regime is fit for purpose; whether enough is being done to educate, inform and enable immunisation - particularly among those more vulnerable groups where the normal checks and balances may have been missed.
A generation still bears the scars of diseases such as polio that we now take for granted as having been virtually eliminated. But care and caution is required to ward off complacency.
The UK has already lost its measles elimination status - and the US could be in danger of that after the worst outbreak in decades in New York, which has only just been brought under control.
