High school students urged to get vaccinated to prevent measles disrupting exams

High school students are being urged to ensure they are fully vaccinated against measles, to help prevent an outbreak like the one that disrupted exams and end of year celebrations at multiple schools last year.Last November measles cases were reported among students from Wellington College, Wellington Girls' College and Auckland Grammar, with some unvaccinated students asked to stay home.Nikki Turner, the Immunisation Advisory Centre's principal medical adviser, said students sitting NCEA exams should ensure they are fully vaccinated against measles as overseas outbreaks increase the risk of the virus being brought into New Zealand.She said there were increasing numbers of outbreaks around the world, leading to sporadic cases of measles popping up in New Zealand."Many young people may be unsure of their vaccination history, but it is safe and recommended to be vaccinated if there is any doubt," Turner said.She said measles can have serious complications."It can do anything from killing you, to cause inflammation of the brain and brain damage, a whole lot of other consequences."The other problem with measles is if you catch it but get through it it actually affects your immune system, so for many months afterwards you are prone to other infectious disease as well. It is a very nasty virus."She said the world got close to eliminating measles completely, but numbers jumped up again following a drop in vaccination cover.