Health & Safety

High school on measles alert in West Auckland

<h2>The Auckland Regional Public Health Service &lpar;APRHS&rpar; has been notified of a possible case of measles at Kelston Boys’ High School&comma; and is advising anyone who has visited the school between 20th &&num;8211&semi; 25th September to be aware and watch for symptoms&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Measles usually begins with a high fever&comma; runny nose&comma; cough and sore red eyes&comma; followed by a rash starting behind the ears and spreading to the body a few days later&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>One in three people with measles will develop complications&comma; such as ear infections&comma; pneumonia&comma; diarrhoea or rarely inflammation of the brain&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If people are infected they could begin experiencing symptoms from 7 -18 days after exposure&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Medical Officer of Health Dr Rob Parker says&colon; &&num;8220&semi;People who are feeling unwell and have visited the school during this time are asked to immediately telephone their doctor or Healthline on 0800-611-116 for advice&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;It is very important to phone in advance because measles is highly infectious and you could infect other people in the medical waiting room&comma;&&num;8221&semi; says Dr Parker&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>ARPHS is working closely with Kelston Boys’ High School to contact parents&comma; teachers and staff and provide medical advice&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The best way to protect yourself and your family from measles is through immunisation&period; If you are unsure of your immunisation status&comma; please call your doctors’ practice to check&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>People who visited this location during the specified times will need to stay at home in isolation for 14 days after exposure to the disease if&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8211&semi; They are not immune to measles<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8211&semi; They are unsure about their measles immunity and haven’t had a blood test to confirm their immune status<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Those in isolation should remain at home and call Healthline or their doctor for further advice&period; They cannot visit other people and should stay away from public places&comma; events&comma; social activities and school&sol;work environments&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>People are considered immune&colon;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8211&semi; If they have received two doses of MMR vaccine and&sol;or<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8211&semi; If they have previous measles illness and&sol;or<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8211&semi; If they are born before 1969<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>New Zealand’s national immunisation schedule provides free MMR vaccinations for all children at 15 months and four years&period; Two doses of MMR vaccine is at least 97 percent effective in preventing measles&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>People who have only had one dose of MMR vaccine should see their doctor for a free second dose<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Explore our latest issue...
School News

School News is not affiliated with any government agency, body or political party. We are an independently owned, family-operated magazine.

Recent Posts

Union considers legal action over cuts to resource teachers

NZEI Te Riu Roa is considering legal action against the government for the disestablishment of…

2 weeks ago

NZQA: AI-marking now a reality

NZQA is implementing AI-marking for all Year 10 written assessments from this year onwards, following…

2 weeks ago

Financial literacy is about more than personal responsibility – wealth and inequality should be part of the new curriculum

Teaching personal financial responsibility isn't enough. Children should be taught broader economic context, argue New…

2 weeks ago

Achieving optimal sound quality in education spaces

When students can't hear the teacher, they can't learn properly. Sound quality matters in education…

2 weeks ago

Discover Ōtautahi Christchurch and its learning opportunites

The Garden City is rich with learning opportunities, no matter what subject or part of…

2 weeks ago

School leaders share stories for Unteach Racism project

Teaching Council of Aotearoa launch school leaders’ stories project with Unteach Racism to challenge institutional…

3 weeks ago