South Australia has recorded its first case of measles since 2019, with a three-year-old boy catching the infection overseas — where measles case numbers are on the rise.
Key points:
- A three-year-old boy has tested positive to measles in South Australia
- More measles cases are expected after global immunisation levels dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic
- People born between 1966 and mid-1980s should check they are fully vaccinated against measles
SA Health was notified of the case after the boy attended the Women’s and Children’s Hospital emergency department on Thursday.
SA Health’s Communicable Disease Control Branch Director Louise Flood said measles could spread quickly between people who were not fully vaccinated against the illness.
“Measles is really contagious; that’s why if anyone has been in those areas, we encourage them to be looking out for symptoms and signs of measles,” she said.
“People can become quite unwell with measles, generally just feeling yucky, but then they can develop ear infections, pneumonia and inflammation of the brain and, unfortunately, some people will die from measles.”
SA Health has released a list of public areas the boy visited while contagious and advised anyone not fully immunised who was at the locations at the same time to be alert for symptoms over the next few weeks and to see a doctor if they become sick.
- Murray Bridge Swimming Centre on Friday, March 17 between 4pm and 6pm
- Murray Bridge Hospital Emergency Department waiting area on Wednesday, March 22 between 9:30am and 1pm and on Thursday, March 23 between 9am and 9:45am
- Bridge Clinic on Thursday, March 23 between 9:30am and 11:15am
- Women’s and Children’s Hospital Emergency Department waiting area on Thursday, March 23 between 12pm and 12:45pm
Health authorities are expecting to see more cases in South Australia as the prevalence of the illness continues to rise overseas.
Last November, the World Health Organization (WHO) said measles immunisation had dropped significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic began, with a record high of almost 40 million children missing a vaccine dose in 2021.
The WHO reported only about 81 per cent of children had received their first dose of the measles vaccine, while 71 per cent had received their second dose, marking the lowest global coverage rates of the first measles dose since 2008.
Dr Flood said measles started as a cold-like illness with symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, sore eyes, and fever and then develops into a rash.
“Measles rash will typically begin on the head or neck and then spread down. It starts as a smaller rash and then spreads down and becomes more widespread, a botchy type rash,” she said.
The measles vaccination is part of the National Immunisation Program, with children receiving their first dose at 12 months of age and a second dose when they are 18 months old.
“Immunisation provides the best protection against measles, and it’s vital that everyone makes sure they’ve had two doses of the measles vaccine to protect themselves and the community,” Dr Flood said.
“We are encouraging people intending to travel overseas to check their vaccination records, and request the vaccine well in advance of travel, if there is no record of them receiving two doses, and they were born in Australia after or during 1966.”
SA Health said people born in the late 1960s to mid-1980s could be at increased risk of catching measles as they might not have received two doses of the vaccine.
This is because the school-based immunisation program did not start offering two doses of the measles vaccine until 1992.
Catch-up vaccination programs have been run over the years, but there are concerns they did not reach everyone.