12 Mar 2019

Measles immunity in question for some Kiwis

From Nine To Noon, 9:35 am on 12 March 2019
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Photo: AFP

As the measles outbreak in Canterbury hits 25, there's a warning that some New Zealanders might not be as immune to the disease as they think are.

Health officials are estimating that up to 100-thousand people will have to be vaccinated and that will take up to six weeks.

Universal vaccination for measles was introduced in 1969. Before then it was assumed you'd probably had contact - or contracted - the disease and have a natural immunity to it. But those Kiwis born between 1969 and 1990 - if they received the vaccine - often only had one shot of it.

Dr Helen Petousis-Harris, Vaccinologist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland. Dr Richard Hoskins is a medical officer of health for Waikato DHB