Plea to take up free vaccination

Northland District Health Board health professionals are urging parents and caregivers, no matter what their beliefs, to take advantage of the free vaccination programme to protect their children against the deadly disease meningococcal W.

‘‘Vaccination is the only way to combat the disease and provide community protection,’’ NDHB chief executive Dr Nick Chamberlain said.

The DHB was moving quickly to roll out the immunisation programme, announced by the Government on Monday, he said. The New Zealand Defence Force has also been approached for medics to help.

The number of cases in Northland has now reached the Ministry of Health threshold to be classified as ‘‘an outbreak’’ . Twenty-nine cases (seven in Northland) have already been reported with six deaths to date – three of these Northlanders. Vaccination takes two weeks to provide effective protection.

A free, three-week, seven-daya-week community vaccination programme will start on December 5, and run until December 21. The clinics will be at schools and community centres around Northland.

Paediatrician Dr Ailsa Tuck said the vaccination was targeting those most at risk and those most likely to carry the disease first.

Clinical microbiologist David Hammer said the new strain was very hard to diagnose because its symptoms were more variable than previous strains of the disease.

Vaccine stock is in short supply globally, but 20,000 doses have been purchased for Northland.