A total of 206 measles cases have been confirmed in New Zealand this year already. Photo / File
A total of 206 measles cases have been confirmed in New Zealand this year already. Photo / File
With more than 200 cases of the measles being reported this year, you'd be forgiven for questioning whether the disease really has been eliminated in New Zealand.
In 2017, the World Health Organization verified that New Zealand had "eliminated" endemic measles.
This means no measles cases had originated in NewZealand, rather they had all been brought in from overseas.
Professor of Public Health at the University of Otago Michael Baker said it did not mean that no one would ever get a case of the measles, but that there had been no occurrences of a transmission of measles lasting more than 12 months in recent years.
But could New Zealand be at risk of losing its elimination status?
Health authorities are now worried measles could become established in New Zealand again.
Last month, the Ministry of Health's director of public health Dr Caroline McElnay said authorities were keeping an eye on how the disease was tracking.
"Local health authorities are working hard to contain the disease's spread but we are concerned that there is a risk of measles becoming established in New Zealand again," she said.
Clinical director of the Auckland Regional Public Health Service Dr Julia Peters. Photo / File
According to the World Health Organization, "elimination status" was lost when a single strain of measles circulated for 12 months or longer within a country.
Between January 1 and June 11, a total of 206 measles cases have been confirmed in New Zealand.
Eighty-four of those lead to hospitalisations.
The Auckland region had the highest number of confirmed cases this year with 104 prompting public health officials to bring forward the recommended age for the first measles, mumps and rubella shot to 12 months instead of 15 months.
In order to get rid of it for good, Baker said two things were needed: high proportions of immunisation and geographical coverage.
"If [people who have measles] encounter people who aren't immunised then it may infect them and it can start a small outbreak," he said.
University of Otago's Professor Michael Baker, Department of Public Health. Photo / Mark Mitchell
"If you have high coverage those outbreaks fizzle out very fast. But, if you have coverage that starts to get below 90 per cent then you can get quite a lot of sustained outbreak and that is the situation you want to avoid."
New Zealand was great at giving children their vaccine, however those most at risk were aged between the mid-teens to mid-thirties, Baker said.
He said there needed to be a standardised plan for medical practitioners country-wide to identify unimmunised patients and give them a free measles injection.
"I think there's a very good case for a systematic approach to close or fill that immunity gap," Baker said.
"It wouldn't be something you could do in a one-off hit, you'd spread it out over a few months probably so it didn't overwhelm resources.
"We're not doing anything fundamentally wrong it's just we need to do it a bit better."
This week's change to immunisation age in Auckland came after it was revealed 43 per cent of the region's cases involved patients aged five years or younger.
Auckland Regional Public Health Service clinical director Dr Julia Peters said the virus was spreading around the region quickly.
"We have seen a significant number of young babies with measles, many of whom have been hospitalised," she said.
"Receiving the first dose of MMR at 12 months will increase levels of immunity in the community and provide added protection for these infants.
"The only effective way to reduce the impact of measles is to increase vaccination rates."
Babies are extremely vulnerable to measles outbreaks, health officials warn. Photo / Jim Goodson
Measles was a very contagious virus and if those who hadn't been immunised even entered the same space as someone with the illness, they were at risk.
Early symptoms included a fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes, and a rash.
