Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
Edited by Nelly T.
A warning has been issued by NSW Health after four people were diagnosed with the measles virus in the past week.
On March 29 two travellers on flights from Cairns to Sydney Airport were found. March 30 brought more cases when 2 young children arrived in Sydney from India, it’s possible that these two are infectious.
All four people have recently been in locations where they could have been infected and a warning has been issued because of it, said Vicky Sheppeard, director of communicable diseases for the NSW Health.
It is not yet being considered an outbreak, however there was a possibility of others being infectious, she said.
“We need to get the message out, so that people can be aware of measles symptoms if they are susceptible,” Dr Sheppeard announced.
People aged in their 20s and 30s who have only received 1 or less doses of the measles vaccine might be vulnerable to the infection and infants under the age of one are liable to contracting as well.
“Until you’ve had two dozes of measles vaccine you are considered susceptible,” Dr Sheppeard said.
“All four cases came through Sydney Airport.
“We’ve also had one of the cases at Royal North Shore emergency department and another case at Mt Druitt Hospital emergency department and a medical centre at Blacktown.”
In NSW all health workers were fully vaccinated, so health workers were not thought to be at risk and the patients that had been identified had been treated, Dr. Sheppeard said.
“But there might be others who were perhaps walking through the emergency department and not able to be identified and contracted and are at risk, so it’s important to get the message out to those people as well.”
