Whanganui intermediate-aged students off to AIMS Games amid measles outbreak

Several Whanganui intermediate-aged students will be attending the AIMS Games in Tauranga this weekend amidst a measles outbreak. Photo / Supplied

A number of Whanganui intermediate-aged students will be heading off to the Tauranga AIMS Games next week amidst a national measles outbreak.

Fordell, Raetihi Primary, Taihape St Josephs and Huntley schools have all registered to attend the sports tournament that begins on September 8.

Whanganui Intermediate are now not going after a timetable conflict.

They will join the 11,500 intermediate-aged athletes from 368 schools from around New Zealand and the Pacific that are set to take part in the six-day event.

Concerns have arisen after it was reported 800 AIMS Games participants had not been vaccinated against measles.

A total of 975 cases of measles have been confirmed throughout New Zealand, with 812 of these in the Auckland region. No cases have been reported in Whanganui.

Four strains of measles are circulating throughout the country, infecting as many as 30 people per day in Auckland.

While the Ministry of Health maintains that the country is primed to deal with the extra demand, with 100,000 doses of the MMR vaccine in stock, vials of the vaccine have been flying off the doctors' shelves at a rate of 20,000 per month, up on the average 12,000.

Fordell School principal Yvette Moorhouse said they were not concerned and had one year 8 student, who is immunised, participating at the AIMS Games.

"We're fine at this stage and make sure we are following what the health department has advised us to do, just keeping families informed of what's happening," Moorhouse said.

Whanganui Intermediate and Raetihi Primary have confirmed they have students attending but could not comment on their immunisation status.

AIMS Games director Vicki Semple said at this stage the Bay of Plenty District Health Board had advised not to exclude attendees based on their immunisation status.

She said organisers were in constant contact with health authorities and had been working on the issue since July.

"We will continue to receive and act on all the advice given to us by the experts at the Ministry of Health and the DHB."

Whanganui medical officer of health Dr Patrick O'Connor said there were no reported cases of measles in Whanganui.

He said it was too late to give immunisation advice to prevent the disease from spreading at the AIMS Games.

"In terms of attending the sports tournament, that's kind of out of our hands and really depends on how strongly the vaccination message has got through to people in the affected areas."

O'Connor said he encouraged anyone in New Zealand under the age of 50, who has not had two doses of the MMR vaccine, to get them from their doctor.

He said 20 to 30-year-olds in particular should get immunised as most cases that have been reported have been in people under 30.

"At younger ages, a lot of the organisation of these things can come from parents but for a young adult they are now in charge of their own healthcare - it's something for them to consider," O'Connor said.