TWO new measles cases have been diagnosed, taking the total number of cases in Queensland this year to 41 and prompting a public health warning about the highly infectious condition.
Queensland Health authorities have urged all Toowoomba residents to ensure their measles vaccinations were up-to-date after the discovery of the two new cases.
The two people were family members of the primary-school aged child who tested positive for the condition earlier this month.
“Measles is one of the most infectious of all communicable diseases, but it is preventable through vaccination,’’ Darling Downs Public Health Unit director Dr Penny Hutchinson said.
Queensland Health said the number of measles cases in Queensland was “soaring’’ and urged Queenslanders to ensure their shots were up-to-date.
Communicable Disease Unit senior director Sonya Bennett said there had now been a total of 41 cases in Queensland to-date this year, compared to 12 at the same point last year.
“We’re already well on the way to the total 52 cases confirmed in Queensland in 2013, and we’re not even halfway through the year yet,’’ Dr Bennett said.
“Measles can be a very severe illness, with up to 30 per cent of infected adults needing to be hospitalised, and a risk of long-term complications, particularly in children.’’
The 41 cases have been predominantly in Brisbane metro north (23), with 6 cases in metro south, 2 on the Sunshine Coast, 5 in Darling Downs, 2 at the Gold Coast, 1 in Cairns and two in overseas residents.
Dr Bennett said half of the cases were acquired overseas, while the other half were people catching the disease off people recently returned home or from an unknown source.
Measles is highly contagious and spreads through coughing and sneezing. Symptoms of measles include fever, cough and a runny nose, then a red spotty rash and sore eyes.
The vaccine is free for all children under the National Immunisation Program and adults born during or after 1966 who have not received two doses of the MMR vaccine.