October 10, 2023
Tempest as measles drama fest guest
A measles outbreak has health authorities worried because of low immunisation rates.
The disease was detected last week in a Whangarei person who travelled on a JetStar flight from Wellington to Auckland after attending a week-long Shakespeare Schools event at Scots College.
Te Aka Whai Ora chief medical officer Rawiri Jansen says since the pandemic immunisations rates have dropped to levels where the community is not sufficiently protected.
“Specifically for Māori populations, it’s fallen to levels that we’re really worried about. So we’ve been doing some work since coming out of the COVID situation, and trying to get those immunisation rates back up. But we’re still really worried about it,” he says.
First symptoms of measles include a fever, cough, runny nose, and sore and watery pink eyes. This is followed by a blotchy rash.