‘Protected together’ is the theme for this year’s immunisation week that started on Monday.
The theme highlights the way that high immunisation rates work to protect those who are too young or unwell to be immunised themselves, as well as the way health professionals and families work together to protect our community.
In the Tairāwhiti region only 86% percent of children at 5 years are fully up to date with their immunisations. This is not high enough to prevent outbreaks, as serious diseases like measles have more of an opportunity to spread.
“Measles is a highly infectious disease that can be life-threatening,” says Dr Margot McLean, Hauora Tairāwhiti Medical Officer of Health. “We have had no measles cases locally this year, but there is a large national outbreak which could easily spread to this region, especially after the school holidays when people are coming back from travelling to other areas. Some teenagers and young adults have missed one or both recommended doses of MMR vaccine. Outbreaks in schools can mean weeks of disruption for families as unimmunised children can be excluded from school.”
Those who are not immunised, whether that’s by choice or other circumstances, are worst affected by outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease.
Fourteen people were diagnosed with whooping cough in Tairāwhiti in 2018, and there have been three cases notified so far in 2019. Whooping cough is a difficult disease to control, because immunity wears off over time and most adults can catch the disease and pass it on. Young babies are the most at risk and can have very severe complications. Women should protect their babies by getting vaccinated between 28 and 38 weeks of pregnancy and making sure babies are vaccinated on time at 6 weeks, 3 months and 5 months of age.
People who are not sure whether they are up to date with all scheduled immunisations can check with their general practice or in their Well Child Tamariki Ora My Health Book.
A wide network of health professionals work together with families to keep our immunisation rates high – from midwives to practice nurses and Well Child Tamariki Ora providers who work directly with families, to Immunisation Coordinators, National Immunisation Register and outreach teams who keep systems running smoothly behind the scenes so that no child misses out.
Immunisation Week runs from 29 April to 5 May 2019.