New measles case on IPU campus
A new measles case has been discovered at a Palmerston North tertiary campus, days before control measures shutting down classes were due to be lifted.
The first case at the Institute of the Pacific United NZ campus was discovered on February 4, quickly followed by another six.
Quarantine measures were put in place to isolate all infected staff and students, and anyone who had contact with them but did not have immunity was asked to stay in isolation.
Some 220 people were vaccinated in a pop-up clinic on campus, and all staff and students were asked to provide records of immunity, by vaccine or having previously had the virus.
The latest case occurred in a person who had met the criteria set for immunity, but ‘‘unfortunately was not’’, Midcentral medical officer of health, Dr Rob Weir said.
‘‘This is because we use various indicators as markers of immunity, for example, being born before 1969, documented evidence of two MMR doses, or evidence of previous measles diagnosed by a doctor.
‘‘While they are usually accurate, occasionally they are not.’’
It was likely the measures taken had still prevented even further spread of the highly infectious and sometimes fatal disease, Dr Rob Weir said.
IPU community liaison Joe Rush said the latest person to contract the virus had followed all precautions requested.
‘‘All his contacts are immune, therefore no further isolation is needed for them.’’
Staff would continue to talk with the DHB about how to proceed, and if it could still reopen on Monday as planned following a two week shut-down of classes.
‘‘At this stage we are still on track for Monday,’’ he said.
‘‘All previous cases are fully recovered.
‘‘We would like to thank the efforts of everyone involved to minimise risk.’’
An additional IPU case and a case in a young child in the community were earlier reported by the DHB, but both had turned out to be false alarms.
Measles can be passed on before symptoms present, so when cases were current it was important the community was aware of the symptoms, Weir said.
He recommended people get vaccinated. Measles symptoms include fever, runny nose, cough and sore red eyes.
After three to five days a rash appears on the head and spreads down the head.
Anyone who thinks they may have measles should contact their GP by phone or call Healthline on 0800 611 116.