Answering all your questions about the measles outbreak

TheAs you may be aware, Aotearoa is facing a measles outbreak. We haven't had one since 2019. Since then, a cottage industry of cookers has emerged, and there's big money to be made in vaccine misinformation.

We are already seeing that with this outbreak. For so long, experts have warned the government that our vaccination rates were getting too low. Despite seeing 83 people - 87% were children under five - die in the Samoa outbreak, our vaccination rates have still been rubbish.

MMR - the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine - is a fantastic vaccine. With two vaccines, you are 99% immune. That is INCREDIBLE. But so much of the world has a weird idea about how vaccines work - so if anyone has a vaccine and still gets sick, they sh*t the bed. They can't fathom the idea that some vaccines aren't 100% or that some only reduce the instance of passing on a virus or minimise its impact.

Of all the vaccines, MMR is just such a great one. For real, it's the MVP of vaccines (though I have a soft spot for the BCG vaccine as I've written about). Still, many people don't understand that.

I had a punishing conversation with someone who said 'Do you know they put measles IN the vaccine??! Nobody knows that?!' and I was like 'but...that's how...that's how vaccines work? How did you think vaccines work?'. Needless to say, I'm endlessly grateful for public health communicators who can handle these questions.

But - it's also not my first (measles) rodeo - so I can answer some questions. And that's what I'm doing today! If you don't want to read my view on this, here's information from Te Whatu Ora about Measles.

How seriously should I take this outbreak?

Very. Measles puts 1 in 3 people in hospital. It is one of the most infectious diseases in humans and the THIRD MOST COMMON vaccine-preventable cause of death among children throughout the world. If you, or your children, have not had two MMR vaccines, or have not already had measles, you could get incredibly sick die. Or you could pass measles onto someone else, and they could get incredibly sick or die. Nobody wants to be the cause of a baby dying or a miscarriage, and pregnant people can't be vaccinated. Nobody wants to be the cause of a baby dying - and babies under one generally can't be vaccinated.

It's up to you to protect your family and other families.

Really? I thought we had measles parties when we were kids?

You did not have measles parties when you were a child. You might have had chickenpox parties if your parents were a bit useless. Still, you definitely didn't have measles parties unless your parents wanted you to die, which seems unlikely even though you're someone who encourages people not to be vaccinated based on your inability to tell two radically different viruses apart.

So please get vaccinated for MEASLES, which is different to chickenpox.

Complications from measles are common. The measles virus suppresses the immune system, lowering the body’s ability to fight other infections, for SEVERAL YEARS after infection.

The risk of complications and death is greater in children under five years and adults over 20 years of age.

Approximately 1 in 1000 cases develop encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), of these 15% die and approximately one third are left with permanent brain damage.

Several years after infection, 1 in 100,000 measles cases will develop subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a degenerative brain disease; this condition is always fatal.

Measles during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage and premature labour. Pregnant women can’t be immunised.

Who should be vaccinated?

All children over 12 months, adolescents and adults born on/after 1 January 1969 should be offered, or have documented evidence of, two doses of MMR/Priorix vaccine. MMR0 doses can be considered for children travelling overseas from 4 months of age. It's likely MMR0 vaccines for babies under one will become available as the outbreak progresses, so keep an eye out for updates from your GP.

The measles vaccine is free and is delivered as part of the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella). About 80% of New Zealanders are currently immune, well below the 95% coverage needed to prevent an outbreak.

Cancer patients who have finished chemotherapy can be re-immunised after six months for free. If you don’t know if you’ve been vaccinated, get vaccinated again. Getting more than the recommended two vaccines is not harmful.

You can book online here.

I was born before 1969 - why don't I need a vaccine?

It's generally believed you would have already had measles. But you can still get a vaccination if you believe you haven't had measles. Call the hotline free on 0800 28 29 26 or talk to your GP.

I think I only had one vaccine / I think my child only had one vaccine - what should I do?

Get another one. It's better to be safe than sorry.

I've had measles / my child has had measles - do I still need a vaccine?

Yes. Two doses of MMR vaccine are recommended to protect you from mumps and rubella.

I'm worried about shedding.

Shedding isn't a thing the way you might have been told it is - as in, vaccinated people aren't dangerous. If you have a type of vaccine that uses a weakened virus to stimulate immunity, you can sometimes, but very rarely, poop out some of the weakened virus. It's not enough to be dangerous - if you ate the poop, you'd get sick, and that's not advised for many reasons, but you wouldn't get measles from eating a vaccinated person's poo.

It's why they also tell you to wear gloves when you change your child's nappy after they've had the rotavirus vaccine.

The oral polio vaccine actually sheds in a concerning way. That's part of why they don't use it anymore - and they wiped out polio because if you vaccinate, you can end vaccine-preventable diseases, which is why they're called vaccine-preventable diseases.

But if you were given a vaccine that had a strong enough form of the virus to pass on to others, you would have the virus. The purpose of the vaccine is to prevent the virus. Do you see where I'm going with this?

MMR vaccine viruses are considered to be non-transmissible.

If you are worried about the safety of your pregnant partner or your parent who has cancer, you should get vaccinated to reduce the risk of them being exposed to measles.

How would I know if I have measles?

Symptoms of measles are:

• fever (a temperature of at least 38°C)
• cough
• runny nose
• sore, red eyes
• sore ears
• rash
• trouble breathing
• a stiff neck
• feeling drowsy or cannot be woken
• coughing up green or yellow thick mucous
• back pain
• seizures
• not passing urine

The rash develops 3 to 5 days after the other symptoms. The rash appears as pink or red spots or bumps that start on the face before spreading to the rest of the body. The rash may be more challenging to see on darker skin. The rash is not usually itchy. It can last for a week or more.

What should I do if I think I have measles?

It’s so important that you isolate if you have any of the above symptoms.

One person with measles can pass the disease to 12–18 people who have not already had measles or been immunised against it.

It usually takes 10-12 days from exposure to the onset of symptoms. The illness begins with fever, cough, runny nose and conjunctivitis (inflammation in the eyes), which lasts for 2-4 days. It may be possible to see small white spots (Koplik spots) inside the mouth.

A rash appears 2-4 days after the first symptoms, beginning at the hairline and gradually spreading down the body to the arms and legs. The rash lasts for up to one week.

Have I been exposed?

You can check out the locations of interest here.

MMR causes autism I read it in Fkingassholes.com I-

It doesn't. As my son says - Autism causes vaccines because you have to be smart enough to figure out how to make a vaccine. There's no link between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism.

Many well-researched, peer-reviewed articles in well-established journals have disputed the idea that MMR causes autism. Here's a list:

• 1999: A study of 500 children found no link between autism and vaccines (Taylor et al., 1999)
• 2002: A study from Denmark of 537,000 children found no link (Madson et al., 2002)
• 2002: A study from Finland of 535,000 children (Makela et al., 2002) also found no link.
• 2004: The Lancet, the publisher of the original Wakefield paper in 1998, released a statement refuting the original findings, saying
  “They had conducted invasive investigations on the children without obtaining the necessary ethical clearances… picked and chose data that suited their case; they falsified facts” (Horton, 2004).
• 2005: A review of 31 studies covering more than 10,000,000 children, also found no link (Demicheli et al., 2005)
• 2012: A review of 58 studies, including five randomised controlled trials covering over 14,700,000 children, also found no link (Demicheli et al., 2012)
• 2018: Do Vaccines Cause Autism? In: The Clinician’s Vaccine Safety Resource Guide (Dudley M.Z. et al, 2018) reports that vaccines do not have a causal effect on autism. The MMR vaccine prevents rubella, which can lead to congenital rubella syndrome that has been associated with autism.
• 2019: Danish study strongly supports that MMR vaccination does not increase the risk for autism, does not trigger autism in susceptible children, and is not associated with clustering of autism cases after vaccination.

Even if the vaccine did cause autism (it doesn't) having an autistic child rules and you should be ashamed of yourself.

Help I'm scared of needles!

When Covid 19 vaccines first emerged, there was a bit of talk lately about needle-phobia and the lack of support and resources for people afraid of needles. In 2022, I asked my kid, who has to have needles all the time, what advice he had.

There are no photos of needles below! Book your vaccination/booster here.

Eddie has had thousands of needles since he was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes two years ago. He was terrified of needles, but the thing is - when you have to have needles or you’ll die, you just have them.

I remember having to hold Eddie down to give him needles. It was so so awful. So I have a lot of empathy for those who are afraid. Truly, nobody likes needles - so here are some tips straight from my son, in his own words:

"I was real scared when I first got diabetes and had to have all these needles. But I had to not be scared because I had to have the needles or else I would die.

So when you get a vaccination you should think about it like that. Like if you don’t get it - you could get sick or you could die or you could get someone else real sick or they could die. Then it doesn’t feel like a choice.

If it’s not a choice and just something you have to do that helps you think different about it.

Here are my other tips -

• Don’t think about it too much before you get your injection. Think about something else.
• It’s not going to kill you just hurt for a second - not even that.
• Listen to your favourite song that makes you feel happy or calm.
• Do something that calms you down like my brother does counting when he’s upset so you just count.
• If you have a phone or if you don’t you can borrow your mum’s phone and watch a funny video.
• Tell the doctor or nurse that you’re scared and they will be extra nice to you.
• Relax your whole body - sometimes you want to squeeze your hands. And if I squeeze my body when I have to get my insulin it hurts way more. You have to breathe out when the needle goes in.
• Be comfortable. I like to lie down instead of stand up when I get insulin. But sometimes I have to stand up and I just lean on my mum or dad. So you could get a cuddle at the same time if you want.
• Get a lollypop after or some Lego if you parents will get you some.
• Think about what you can do after your injection. After I have insulin I can have my ice cream or go outside and play. After you get your injection you can go do fun things.
• Think it’s not actually the end of the world. It’s just an injection. But if you don’t have the vaccine and you get sick that could be the end of the world.
• Also I think, at least you only have to have three injections and they’re over a whole year probably but some of us have to have three just in one morning so you should also be a bit braver. But it’s ok if you don’t feel brave. There are lots of ways to feel brave anyway. It’s OK to cry because I sometimes cry when I have to get insulin even though I have had thousands probably millions of injections.
• Take your teddy bear with you and cuddle it while you get your injection. Or if you don’t have a teddy bear just cuddle your mum or your dad.

That’s probably all of my tips. But if you know someone with type one diabetes you could ask them because they have lots of injections so they will have tips too. Not just mine. And it’s OK to feel scared, just don’t let being scared make you not get a injection. Because sometimes we just have to have injections. It’s just called life. Sometimes babies need injections. And they just cry and can’t do anything. Anyway that’s all.

But if you want you can call me* just ask my mum for her number and I will talk to you while you get your injection.

Just put “From Eddie” now mum."

From Eddie.

*

I hope that helped! Good luck with your boosters and getting your kiddies vaccinated! Thank you for getting vaccinated. Arohanui, from the Writes whānau.

*Bless him, but no lol.

Have questions about measles or vaccines? Call the Vaccination Helpline on 0800 28 29 26.

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