The Waikato Health Board has been dealing with a number of measles cases recently. The Health Board sent a letter to schools with advice about measles. One high school, where students have developed measles, will close tomorrow, Monday, for the day. Only students and staff who can show a written record of their MMR vaccinations can attend on Tuesday. They need two MMR – measles, mumps and rubella – vaccinations to be effective.
Symptoms of measles are a rash over the whole body and sore eyes. Measles starts with a runny nose, a cough and sore red eyes. A red rash starts on the face and then spreads to the whole body.
Measles is infectious for 5 days before the rash develops and five days after. It is highly contagious and can spread to anyone in the same room during those first five days. It can take 14 days after that for the infected person to develop a rash. This is called the incubation period. Anyone who has not been immunized (vaccinated) needs to stay at home for the next 14 days.
Measles can be serious. About 10% of people with measles need hospital treatment.
Vocabulary
• dealing with (v) – managing, giving advice and treatment
• vaccination (countable), immunization (non-count) (n) – protection from a disease, gives immunity from that disease
• symptoms (n) – signs
• infectious, contagious (adj) – spreads easily from one person to another
• infected (adj) – used for person who has the infection (from the verb infect)
• incubate (v), incubation (n) – usually used for a bird’s egg from the time it is laid until the bird hatches; also used for a disease to develop