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https://theconversation.com/nz-may-be-on-the-cusp-of-another-measles-outbreak-what-happened-in-2019-should-be-a-warning-268086>
"The recent confirmation of new measles cases unconnected to international
travel suggests the highly contagious disease has likely started spreading
through communities, according to Health New Zealand.
This is a stark reminder of the pending danger of a larger measles outbreak. To
prevent transmission once the measles virus has been introduced, a population
immunity of around 95%, evenly distributed throughout communities, is
necessary.
New Zealand does not have this level of vaccination coverage and the main way
to prevent an outbreak now is to focus on increasing the immunity of children
and on closing the “immunity gap” in the population.
While New Zealand has used the measles vaccine since 1969, a national
immunisation register was only introduced in 2005. Without a national register
to provide the historical immunisation record, estimates are that only around
80% of people born in the 1980s and 1990s are protected against measles.
Although vaccination rates of children have at times reached more than 90%
since the introduction of the register, the total has never reached the
required 95%. Immunisation coverage has consistently remained lower among Māori
children and more recently also Pacific children.
To stem further spread, we must build on the lessons from New Zealand’s last
major measles outbreak in 2019.
That year, Auckland experienced a large and serious measles outbreak – the
largest since 1997 – affecting babies, young children and adults. There were
more than 2,000 cases and about 35% required hospital care, despite the fact
most people who contracted measles were previously fit and healthy.
Some of the serious and lasting complications included encephalitis (brain
inflammation), pregnant women losing babies, and children needing lengthy
life-saving intensive care.
While acute measles can be severe, our subsequent research shows that measles
infection is associated with a long-term increased risk of other infections.
We found that people who had measles in the 2019 outbreak had more hospital
admissions not related to measles and more antibiotic prescriptions in the four
years following the outbreak, compared to healthy controls.
While the effect was more pronounced for people whose measles infection was
severe and needed hospital care, we also saw a lasting effect for those with
milder infections.
The severity of this outbreak could have been prevented if more people had been
protected with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
