Terrified mums hide at home
New mothers afraid they’ll expose babies to measles if they go out
Some parents say they are terrified to leave their home for fear their baby might become infected with measles. PlunketLine manager Anne Marie Morris said the helpline had been getting hundreds of calls every day from parents “extremely worried” about the measles outbreak. Many called in tears, saying they were too scared to leave their home.
This has been the case since late August when the outbreak sky-rocketed. “Some days we are getting an extra 50 per cent to normal call volume due to concerns of the measles outbreak,” Morris said.
One new mum said she had put herself on “home arrest” after discovering the immunisation she’d had back in her Ukraine homeland was ineffective and she had no immunity against the deadly disease.
“We were nervous and of course hyper-vigilant even just leaving the hospital with
our new family,” said Irene Direnko-Smith, 35.
She could not be inoculated when she was pregnant due to the risk for her baby but had her first vaccine dose two days after giving birth to her son.
Despite the vaccine giving her 95 per cent immunity, Direnko-Smith said she was still extremely anxious about leaving the house.
“My baby received no immunity from me when I was pregnant and he can’t get protected against the disease until he is 12-months-old when he can get the first dose of the vaccine,” Direnko-Smith said.
So far this year Auckland has had 1307 measles cases, most of them children aged under 5. Health officials also revealed this week that two pregnant women who contracted the disease had lost their unborn babies.
Dr Nikki Turner, director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre (Imac), said there was evidence breastfeeding did give babies some immunity and was not 100 per cent of specific to measles.
“Generally, the risk of mums and newborns getting infected with measles from venturing outside is low but they should try to avoid crowded areas like shopping malls and supermarkets — especially in outbreak areas such as South Auckland,” Turner said.
Morris said Plunket had been hearing from a lot of mums who had been cooped up for weeks unsure if it was safe for them to go outside.
In South Auckland, Plunket outreach programme manager Sophie Woodger’s team were visiting families needing the immunisation who expressed similar concern.
Auckland Regional Public Health Service has been notified that a person with measles made a return flight between Auckland and Tauranga last Thursday before they knew they were infectious. Dr Maria Poynter said anyone who was a passenger on either of the two flights should watch for signs of measles.