Public urged to check vaccines as confirmed measles case attends Eastern Suburbs basketball games

Health authorities have urged the public to check their immunisation records as the number of measles cases in the state is expected to exceed last year’s total by the end of this month.

There have been 17 measles cases recorded in NSW this year compared to 18 across all of 2024.

Up to a third of people with measles have complications.Credit: Sydney Morning Herald

Of the 17 cases, 11 were returning from travel to countries with measles outbreaks, including eight returning from Vietnam. The remaining seven cases caught the disease in their households and the community.

On Wednesday, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said the number was significant.

“It reflects the burden of disease overseas,” she said, stressing that people needed to have received both doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine for optimal protection.

“Some people may have just had one vaccine, and whilst that is protective, we know for that high rate of 99 per cent protection, we need those two doses, so please ensure you’ve had your complete course.”

Chant encouraged anyone travelling overseas to check their immunisation record or to receive the MMR vaccine before departing.

Measles symptoms appear between seven and 18 days after exposure and include fever, a runny nose, sore eyes and a cough. These symptoms are followed three or four days later by a red, blotchy rash that spreads across the body.

NSW Health has issued seven community measles alerts since the start of the year.

Westmead Children’s Hospital, food outlets in Maroubra and Randwick, and two medical centres in Parkes, in the state’s Central West, were among the places identified as being visited by confirmed cases in March.

In February, a confirmed case visited 16 locations across the city, including the crowded Queen Victoria Building in the CBD, while they may have been infectious.

On Sunday, a confirmed case attended two weekend basketball games at Waverley College and Rose Bay Secondary College, however unlike other confirmed cases linked to trips to South-East Asia, the source of this infection is unknown and is being investigated.

Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 99 per cent effective against measles, which can spread from one person to as many as 10 or 15 unvaccinated individuals.

University of Sydney vaccination researcher Professor Julie Leask said the pandemic had affected vaccination services in countries that have current measles outbreaks.

“A lot of services were closed – people were also scared of going to those services,” she said.

Of the 17 cases recorded this year, three were in children aged under four years, and four cases were aged under 14 years. The largest proportion of cases was in young adults aged 20 to 24.

Sydney Children’s Hospital Network infectious diseases paediatrician Phillip Britton said children travelling overseas aged under 12 months, when a child typically receives their first MMR vaccine, could get an early vaccine at six months.

“People in Australia have become complacent about measles, but measles is a terrible disease,” he said.

“It’s a disease that causes children to end up in hospital. It’s a disease that causes children to have complications like pneumonia and even things like encephalitis or inflammation of the brain ... it can continue to cause problems for children for years after their acute infection.”

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