South Australia measles: Contact tracing underway after highly infectious cluster spreads

A woman has become the latest in a cluster of measles cases after she spent up to 24 hours in an emergency department while infectious.

It brings South Australia’s total number of cases to nine, the highest it’s been in 10 years.

SA Health was notified of the case on Sunday afternoon and confirmed it was linked to a cluster at Adelaide’s Brighton Secondary College, where three teenagers contracted the highly infectious disease.

The health agency confirmed 24 exposure sites dating back a week, warning those who had come into contact with those areas and weren’t fully immunised to be ‘‘alert for symptoms’‘ over the next few weeks.

SA Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said contact tracing was underway at the hospital to contain the spread.

‘’The area that concerns me the most is the Queen Elizabeth Hospital because you’ve got other vulnerable patients there,’‘ Professor Spurrier said.

“Unfortunately she was there in an open space for a longer period of time.

“I think there could potentially be additional spread.”

SA Health says the best way to avoid measles is through two doses of vaccination, commonly taken through the National Immunisation Program for children aged between 12-months and 18-months-old.

A vaccination program is underway for adults born during or after 1966 who had not received two doses, and children aged six months to 12 months travelling overseas.

SA’s vaccination rates were ahead of the curve at 93.3 per cent for kids, although national rates had been falling year on year, Prof Spurrier said.

“The real risk is from overseas,” she said.

“It’s not just a simple cold that they’ll get over ... you get really crook.”

Symptoms begin with fever, cough, a runny nose and sore eyes, followed by a blotchy rash that usually starts on the head before spreading down the body, and can result in pneumonia in serious cases.

“The one thing that can be fatal is what’s called encephalitis, which is inflammation and infection in the brain,” Prof Spurrier said.

In the US, where vaccine exemption rates have increased 17 per cent over the last school year according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, four children have died within the past two years.

SA Health and Wellbeing Minister Blair Boyer said anyone needing a second dose could get one for free.

“I urge people who might be wondering whether or not they could have been exposed, just hop on the SA Health website,” he said.