February 26, 2024
Tangi as Samoan measles outbreak remembered
An advisor to the Immunisation Advisory Centre is warning of a perfect storm with measles.
Henderson GP Mamaeroa David says with only 31 percent of Māori tamariki vaccinated against the killer disease, waits of up to three weeks to see a GP common, and many doctors being unfamiliar with the symptoms of measles, cases could be missed in busy clinics.
An outbreak in 2019 centred in South Auckland involved more than 2000 cases and 700 hospitalisations.
It then jumped to Samoa.
“They lost 83 people, 81 of those were children. At our conference for immunisation in November last year the Samoan doctors came over to talk about that and it was heart breaking. The whole conference, 500 of us, had a big tangi at the end of her talk to think about those poor babies and the experience of those health care workers who were powerless to save those babies’ lives,” Dr Mamaeroa David says.
Vaccination is the number one protection against measles, and babies are most vulnerable as the disease it can quickly overwhelm their systems causing meningitis and other deadly problems.