Extension of rubella vaccination scheme

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32702, 3 September 1971, Page 24

Extension of rubella vaccination scheme

The,Department of Health would extend

its vaccination campaign against rubella (German measles) next term to include Form II girls, the Deputy Medical Officer of Health in Christchurch (Dr D. A. Andrews) said yesterday.

The campaign to vaccinate new school entrants would be continued for another term, said Dr Andrews. The Form II girls would be those who had missed being vaccinated earlier and were approaching the age when rubella would be dangerous in cases of pregnancy.

Single-shot vaccines which had been approved for release in New Zealand had not yet reached Christchurch, but he presumed it would be available to general practitioners soon, said Dr Andrews.

The two new vaccines, one which gave immunity against measles, mumps, and rubella and the other which gave immunity against measles and rubella, would certainly save time and be more convenient, he said. In the last five or six years in New Zealand there have been about 2000 cases of either measles, mumps, or rubella which have been serious enough to require hospital treatment. An unknown number of

children have been permanently handicapped because their mothers contracted rubella during pregnancy. Widespread immunisation reduces the number of potential carriers of rubella and affords long-term protection for future generations.