In some areas, measles vaccination rates for Māori and Pasifika people have fallen to as low as 32 per cent. Photo / 123RF
In some areas, measles vaccination rates for Māori and Pasifika people have fallen to as low as 32 per cent. Photo / 123RF
Two staff at a Mount Maunganui café are isolating at home awaiting blood test results after a person infected with measles visited the business.
On Monday, the National Public Health Service confirmed an adult living in Auckland, who was infected overseas but did not become contagious until their arrival in New Zealand, visited three Mount Maunganui food businesses between February 5 and 11.
The Blue Haven Motel in Tweed St hosted the confirmed case on February 5 and 6.
On February 6, the person visited the General Café on Pacific Ave between 11.30am and 12.30pm, and the Lolo Authentic Turkish Kitchen on Maunganui Rd between 1pm and 2pm.
Meanwhile, anyone who was on a chartered bus travelling to or from Tauranga and the ‘That Weekend’ festival on February 5, who is not immune to measles and has not been contacted by Public Health, is urged to call Healthline (0800 611 116) immediately and to remain at home until they have been contacted.
The buses travelled between Willow St, Tauranga and the Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel.
While known purchasers of bus tickets have been contacted, the festival date was changed and many registered ticket purchasers did not attend. Public Health wanted to ensure that anyone who travelled on the buses that were not a ticket purchaser called Healthline if they had not already
Mir Yunus Erdal, owner of the Lolo Authentic Turkish Kitchen, said there were only a handful of other diners present at the time the confirmed case visited his business.
Erdal said he was fully vaccinated against measles, but because two of his staff were unsure of their vaccination status, he closed his business on Tuesday and took them to get blood tests.
“Both staff are now isolating at home until Monday, when they’ll get their blood test results back.”
Fortunately, one of his good friends had stepped in to help out for few days, but this couldn’t have come at a worse time, he said.
“It would be good to have some financial support at a time like this, as being two staff down is the last thing I need on top of the impacts of all the bad weather.”
“I still need to keep paying my staff, including one who only arrived in New Zealand two weeks ago, and they need to keep paying their rent.”
Erdal said he was also continuing to follow public health advice about what to do to help to protect his customers.
The co-owner of the Blue Haven Hotel, who did not to be named, said he, his wife and their staff were all fully vaccinated and were following the National Public Health Service’s advice after being notified of the confirmed case on Monday.
The General Café was also contacted for comment.
National Public Health Service national director Dr Nick Chamberlain. Photo / Michael Cunningham
National Public Health Service national director Dr Nick Chamberlain said local public health teams and national investigation services were tracing all contacts of the confirmed case to check their immunity and to determine if they need to quarantine or if vaccinations were appropriate.
“We are in the process of rapidly identifying and reaching out to these people, and building a detailed picture of the close contacts. Once this work is further progressed, we can share further information publicly.”
Chamberlain said it was important that anyone at risk of infection gets their two MMR vaccine doses, as measles is “much more contagious” than Covid-19.
“Measles is a serious illness, hence a positive case in New Zealand is cause for significant concern. In 2019, we had over 2000 cases and over 700 hospitalisations.
“Measles spreads very quickly, and we urge anyone who has been present at an exposure event to stay alert to symptoms – such as a fever, cough, runny nose, sore and watery ‘pink’ eyes, followed by a blotchy rash – and check if they are immune.
“People who are considered to be at risk of getting measles are those born after January 1, 1969 who have not had measles before, those who have not had two doses of the MMR vaccine at or after 12 months of age, and those who are not sure if they’ve had the MMR vaccine,” he said.
Complications from measles can include pneumonia, ear infections which can cause hearing loss and encephalitis, which can cause brain damage. Photo / DermNetNZ.org
In August last year, Ministry of Health data revealed 61 per cent of children in the Te Whatu Ora Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty area had been fully immunised against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox.
“The MMR vaccine is free for everyone born after January 1, 1969 - if anyone is unsure if they have had two doses, play it safe and get vaccinated. There are no safety concerns with having an extra dose,” Chamberlain said.
People can be vaccinated through GPs, medical centres, pharmacies, as well as through Māori and Pacific providers, he said.
“We will also be undertaking outreach immunisation work to provide vaccinations in other settings in the community to increase vaccination rates and to keep people protected,” he said.
Anyone who is not immune and who may have been exposed should call the free healthline on 0800 611 116.
Professor Michael Baker, an epidemiologist at the University of Otago, said it was inevitable that measles cases would arrive once pandemic travel restrictions were removed. He said the best public health response to measles was sustaining high vaccine coverage and rapidly responding to any clusters of cases.
“Immunisation programmes have gone backwards to some degree in most countries because of the division of resources into Covid-19 and various other factors. So, this is now time to be working on boosting immunisation across all age groups.”
