By Lucy Cormack
Passengers on a recent Etihad Airways flight returning to Sydney from Abu Dhabi are being urged to check for symptoms of measles, after an unvaccinated man was diagnosed with the infection upon his return from the middle east.
It is the third such case in two days.
A measles alert has been issued for Sydney, the 37th this year. Credit: ninevms
The man was infectious while travelling on Etihad Airways flight EY 451 from Abu Dhabi, which arrived at Sydney International Airport at 11:55pm on Friday August 16.
Anyone who travelled on the flight or attended the airport - including baggage carousels, customs and the arrivals area - in the early hours of the morning of Saturday August 17 should be alert for signs and symptoms of measles until September 3.
It can take up to 18 days for symptoms to appear following exposure to a person with measles.
The warning comes after NSW Health issued an alert on Friday about the return of two 40-year-old travellers who had been diagnosed with the disease since returning to NSW.
Both NSW residents, returning from South America and New Zealand respectively, remain isolated in hospital for management of complications from their infections.
It brings the total number of measles notifications for NSW to 37 this year, compared to 13 notifications for the same period last year, data from NSW Health shows.
“Symptoms to watch out for include fever, sore eyes and a cough followed three or four days later by a red, blotchy rash that spreads from the head to the rest of the body," said Dr Vicky Sheppeard, director communicable diseases for NSW Health.
“Anyone who develops symptoms of measles should phone their GP to ensure they don’t wait alongside other patients before seeing their doctor.”
Dr Sheppeard said the cases this week demonstrate the importance of adults up to 53 years of age checking their vaccination history before travelling overseas.
“Measles cases worldwide have dramatically increased in 2019, and many countries are experiencing large and ongoing outbreaks. This means that all travellers are at risk of measles if they are unvaccinated,” said Dr Sheppeard.
“If you are unsure whether you have had two doses of measles vaccine, it is safe to have another.”
Free measles vaccines are available for anyone born during or after 1966 who has not already had two doses.
Measles is highly contagious and spread in the air through coughing or sneezing by anyone who is infectious with the disease.
More than 95 per cent of five-year-olds in NSW are vaccinated against measles, according to the latest Annual Immunisation Coverage Report.