Health authorities on high alert with the rise in measles cases in Queensland

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Queensland health authorities are on high alert, with measles cases in the state continuing to rise.12 cases of the highly contagious virus have been detected in the past 6 weeks.

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00:00Health authorities are increasingly worried about these cases that are popping up right

00:06across the state. The latest of those was in the Mackay region just last week, but that's

00:11the third region to have cases reported in recent days. Before that, cases popped up

00:17on the Gold Coast as well as in the Cairns region, which has issued a public health alert

00:21because 11 separate cases of measles have been detected this month alone. Now, infectious

00:28diseases experts say it's both incredibly serious and incredibly contagious. That's

00:33why measles is such a risky virus. It can be spread through the air, so all you need

00:38to do is breathe in the air of someone who is infected and you may contract it. They

00:43say you can enter a room that someone with measles was in hours prior and still contract

00:48the virus. That's why it's incredibly important to be vaccinated against it. Now, those public

00:53health officials say that Australia has had dwindling measles vaccination rates in recent

00:58years, and this is particularly worrying considering more than a decade ago, Australia effectively

01:02eliminated measles as a virus in the country. So these cases are particularly disappointing

01:08because of that reason. Now, we heard earlier this morning from Queensland's Chief Health

01:12Officer, again, a reminder of what the symptoms of measles are and to look out for those. So

01:16that's fever, a cough, a runny nose, conjunctivitis, and then following that, a blotchy red rash

01:22across the face and body. Now, those symptoms typically appear seven to ten days after the

01:28virus has been contracted. Now, those specifically at risk are children, the elderly, people with

01:34chronic illness, and pregnant women. So it was a worthwhile reminder for anyone in those

01:38high-risk groups to definitely be vaccinated. But the reminder from public health officials

01:43is that everyone should be getting out and getting that measles vaccination.

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