Baby is latest victim in measles outbreak

A 4-month-old baby is the latest victim of Canterbury’s measles outbreak, with 15 cases now confirmed.

Canterbury health authorities say the number of cases is likely to rise further in coming days as the highly-contagious disease circulates in the region.

The oldest of the cases is a 54-year-old, which is exceptional as people in the pre-1969 immunisation group were considered to be immune, Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) medical officer of health Ramon Pink said.

Four of the confirmed cases were preschool-aged children, one of whom was enrolled in an early childhood learning centre.

‘‘Unimmunised people who come within 2 metres of an infectious person, however briefly, have a 90 per cent chance of contracting measles,’’ a CDHB statement said.

Demand for vaccines has outstripped supply as people rush to get immunised.

Pink said the region had gone through a month’s supply of the MMR vaccine in two days this week. An urgent shipment of 2800 doses of vaccine arrived in Canterbury yesterday and a further 18,000 doses are due on Wednesday.

Pegasus Health chief executive Vince Barry said some GPS had run out of vaccines but he could not confirm how many.

GPS contacted by Stuff reported being swamped by demand, including from unenrolled patients.

The best protection was for people to have had two MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccinations.

CDHB stood by earlier advice that parents should bring forward the first dose of the vaccine from 15 months to 12 months, and the second dose to a month after the first, instead of at 4 years. However, supply issues meant that might not be immediately possible.

Ministry of Health deputy director of public health Dr Harriette Carr said MMR might be recommended for infants aged 6–12 months during measles outbreaks if cases were occurring in the very young. ‘‘Any recommendations will be made by the local medical officer of health and the Ministry of Health based on local epidemiology.’’

The Ministry of Health had advised the CDHB the priority groups are teenagers and young adults who may not have been immunised before, and children waiting to be vaccinated under the normal schedule.

Adults born after 1969 can increase their immunity by getting a second dose but they are not a priority group.

Pink said parents should keep unimmunised children at home if there was a confirmed case of measles at their preschool or school.

Pink said an urgent shipment of 288 packs, each containing 10 doses of the vaccine, was due to arrive from Auckland imminently.

A further 9000 doses had been ordered. ‘‘Until we have a more certain supply of the vaccine and general practices have had a chance to plan how best to meet local demand, we now believe that demand might be hard to meet immediately,’’ Pink said. ‘‘We will, however, send out renewed messaging when our health system is better placed to meet that demand.’’

Anyone who had not had two doses of the MMR vaccine should contact their general practice for advice, Pink said.

‘‘Each general practice is best placed to assess local demand and their ability to meet it and they can respond to inquiries accordingly.’’

Dr Phil Schroeder, of the Canterbury Primary Response Group, said general practices were gearing up for an exceptional vaccination drive he said could extend for six weeks or longer. ‘‘It’s extreme in that I’ve been in practice now for 30 years and I haven’t seen anything of this calibre to date,’’ he said.

There are 128 general practices in the region.

Schroeder said if they worked at full capacity, they could deliver up to 5000 vaccinations a day.

Whether or not that was possible depended on MMR vaccine supplies.

‘‘Until we have a more certain supply of the vaccine ... demand might be hard to meet immediately.’’ Canterbury medical officer of health Dr Ramon Pink