Te Ranga students in home isolation after church measles case confirmed

An undisclosed number of Te Ranga School students have been kept home in isolation after coming into contact with a person at church with measles.

Te Ranga School principal Brendan Wilson said an announcement was made almost immediately after learning of the contact and possibility of infection.

"At this stage no one at the school has measles," Wilson said. "But we have chosen to be pro-active as opposed to reactive."

A post on the school's Facebook page said a member of the Orchard Church congregation who had been at church on September 15 and also around students who attend Te Ranga School, had been diagnosed with measles.

"The students from Te Ranga are in one of the risk categories identified by Toi Te Ora Public Health and will remain at home until the public health nurse deems them not to be a risk to others," Wilson wrote.

"Once we were made aware of the person who had been diagnosed with measles and realised we had students at the church that day, we contacted our public health nurse who advised us on what steps to take," Wilson said.

"For the school it's about keeping our students and whanau informed and protected."

He told the Bay of Plenty Times the school community had responded well to the news.

"We understand there are differing views regarding measles within the community including some grandparents who believe measles isn't a big deal. However, we have a health professional saying we need to take this seriously and that's what we're doing."

A spokesperson from The Orchard Church said, as far as she was aware, no other church members in attendance on September 15 were showing measles symptoms.

"All I know is someone who was at church on that day had measles confirmed soon after and we were asked to ensure our parishioners were made aware of this and share with them symptoms they should be looking out for," the spokeswoman said.

"It went out in our notice and we also shared it on our Facebook page."

Bay of Plenty District Health Board Medical Officer of Health Dr Jim Miller confirmed information provided by Toi Te Ora was distributed by the Orchard Church to its congregation.

The letter advised that anyone attending Orchard Church on September 15 must lookout for symptoms until September 29 and anyone who was not immune to measles, must stay in home isolation from September 22 to 29.

Home isolation meant avoiding gatherings and staying away from any public places including school, work, childcare, shopping centres, church, cinemas, sports events and the cinema.

''The congregation have been very cooperative with this," Miller said.

He would not comment on whether the person who was diagnosed with measles knew how they had been infected, saying Toi Te Ora did not comment on individual cases.

However, he did say Toi Te Ora had not received any further notifications of measles linked to the church.

According to Toi Te Ora figures, as of Monday at 4pm there had been 50 cases of measles in the Bay of Plenty and Rotorua, with the last confirmed on September 20.

Other Te Puke schools contacted by the Bay of Plenty Times said they had not been affected by the confirmed case.