Aucklanders are being warned to watch out for measles symptoms after a new discovery of the highly contagious virus.
In the new case, the infected person visited several public places before they were diagnosed.
Those places include:
Saturday March 18:
- Auckland Airport's international check-in area on the ground floor and the public pre-departure area on the first floor, between 5:45pm and 6:45pm
- Silverdale Pak'n'Save, between 7:30pm and 8pm
Sunday March 19:
- Albany Pak'n'Save, between 11am and midday
Medical Officer of Health Dr Michael Hale is asking members of the public who visited the following locations at the relevant times, and who are unsure of their immune status, to call their doctors’ practice to check.
People born before 1969, or who have had measles, or received two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) after their first birthday, are considered immune, the Auckland Regional Public Health Service says.
Dr Hale says anyone can check their immunisation status by calling their family doctor’s practice.
"Just being in the same room as someone with measles can be enough to catch the infection," Dr Hale says.
It usually takes 10 to 14 days for someone who has caught measles to start showing symptoms.
If any person has been infected at the locations identified above, they may start to develop symptoms from March 28 to April 2.
Measles usually begins with a high fever, runny nose, cough and sore red eyes, followed by a rash starting behind the ears and spreading to the body a few days later. One in three people with measles will develop complications, such as ear infections, pneumonia, diarrhoea or rarely inflammation of the brain.
Dr Hale says if you think you might have measles, call your doctor.
"Please don’t just turn up at the doctor’s as you could infect people in the waiting room."
Newshub.
