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Jared Williamson/Stuff
The National Immunisation Programme is contacting people born between 1989 and 2004, some of whom may not have received both doses of the MMR vaccine, following recent confirmation of a case. (File photo)
The country’s leading health body is contacting young people to promote uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, as Aotearoa recently recorded its first measles case in years.
Te Whatu Ora’s (Health New Zealand) National Immunisation Programme is getting in touch with people born between 1989 and 2004, some of whom may not have received both doses of the MMR vaccine.
Contact – happening primarily via email, with text messages being sent as a backup where people’s email addresses are not recorded – is under way to reach people living in Auckland, Waikato, and Bay of Plenty, the agency told Stuff.
These regions include areas where measles could have been passed on to others, following recent confirmation of New Zealand’s first imported measles case since the 2019 outbreak.
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On February 13, Te Whatu Ora advised the case – an adult living in Auckland – attended a festival in Waikato; chartered bus transport; ate meals and stayed at a hotel in Tauranga; and visited a pharmacy and supermarket in Auckland.
National Public Health Service clinical lead Dr William Rainger said some parts of these areas particularly affected by Cyclone Gabrielle had been excluded from the campaign at this stage.
“There will also be an outbound calling campaign to support this MMR promotion,” he said.
The message encourages people to check they are up-to-date for measles and other regular immunisations.
If people were not sure if they’d had two doses of MMR, they were being encouraged to “play it safe and get immunised”, Rainger said: “There is no risk with getting an extra dose”.
Rainger said the MMR vaccine was the “best protection we have to keep people – particularly vulnerable people and tamariki – safe from measles”.
STUFF
Health authorities are concerned Aotearoa New Zealand is at risk from another disease
It comes as health officials on Wednesday urged passengers who travelled on Jakarta-Sydney flight QFA42/QF42 – arriving in Sydney at 6.17am on February 15 – and on to New Zealand to contact Healthline (0800 611 116), if they had not already been contacted by health officials.
Rainger earlier advised six people from the flight had been contacted, and work was “rapidly” under way to contact a further 29 people.
Te Whatu Ora has been approached for comment on how much progress has been made on this.
Measles is a highly infectious disease, that spreads easily to anyone who is not immune.
People are considered immune to measles if they have received two doses of the MMR vaccine, have had measles before or were born before 1969.
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