Measles peak ‘weeks away’

A fresh supply of 52,000 measles vaccines is scheduled to arrive by the end of the week, as the number of confirmed cases continues to rise.

Some 944 Aucklanders had been diagnosed with measles this year to date, up 25 since Saturday, confirmed Auckland Regional Public Health Service’s Dr William Rainger.

Counties Manukau District Health Board’s Carmel Ellis said her district had enough vaccines in stock to last until the next shipment.

Ellis said three south Auckland secondary schools had started offering onsite measles immunisations, ‘‘with the balance due to come on board towards the end of this week and early next week’’.

Auckland has been in the throes of a measles outbreak for more than six months, and 1131 cases of the highly contagious virus have been confirmed around New Zealand.

It’s the worst outbreak the country has seen since 1997 when about 2000 people were infected with measles.

But Rainger said it was difficult to say when the numbers of measles cases would peak, saying that it could be in ‘‘a couple of weeks’’.

Pacific Islanders have been disproportionately affected by measles this year; health officials have said they account for 40 per cent of measles cases in Auckland, yet make up 14 per cent of the city’s population.

Children under 5 make up most measles cases, the bulk of which have been in south Auckland.

Measles symptoms include fever, a runny nose, coughing, and sore red eyes. After three to five days a tell-tale rash appears on the head and spreads down the body.