A GP’s plea for taking measles seriously: ‘It’s far more than a rash and a fever’

Opinion by

Dr Allan Moffitt

New Zealand Listener·

9 Nov, 2025 05:00 PM3 mins to read

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Recovery from measles can be long. The rash may fade in a week but fatigue, respiratory issues and immune suppression can linger for months. Photo / Getty Images

When I first started out as a GP in the 1980s, there were two topics you generally avoided at a dinner party: religion and politics. But by the early 2000s, a third had quietly joined the list: vaccinations. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when this shift occurred but the change
has been steady. What was once a straightforward public health conversation has become, at times, emotionally charged and politically fraught.

Yet in the consulting room, vaccinations remain a regular and essential part of the conversation. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. For some families, fear is a motivator; for others, it fuels hesitation. Some parents worry about side effects, even if mild or temporary. Others feel the absence of visible harm makes vaccines seem unnecessary. Whatever the reason, I always listen without judgment, aiming to understand each patient’s perspective.

I often use the BERT framework to guide these discussions: Benefits, Evidence, Recommend and Think. One benefit that often surprises people is that vaccinated individuals don’t need to isolate if exposed to measles – a big deal for working parents. I always recommend the vaccine personally; hearing it from a trusted health professional matters. Finally, I encourage people to take time to think, talk with their whānau, and return with questions.

Measles is not just a rash and a fever. It’s a serious illness that can have devastating consequences. I’ve seen previously healthy patients hospitalised with pneumonia, encephalitis (brain inflammation) and, in rare cases, long-term neurological damage including deafness and intellectual disability. Measles can also cause “immune amnesia,” which erases the body’s memory of how to fight off other infections. This leaves people vulnerable to illnesses they might otherwise have shrugged off. Research shows people who’ve had measles are more likely to be hospitalised for unrelated infections and require more antibiotics in the years that follow.

New Zealand was verified by the World Health Organisation as having eliminated measles in 2017, meaning outbreaks were linked only to imported cases, and no cases originated here for three years. But the 2019 outbreak was a wake-up call. More than 2000 cases were confirmed, with more than 700 hospitalisations – many of them infants, teenagers and young adults. Auckland was hit hardest, especially Counties Manukau, where public health services were overwhelmed. Māori and Pacific communities bore the brunt, with disproportionately high rates of complications. Two unborn babies died.

These aren’t just statistics – they represent real families, real grief and real disruption. Outcomes are worse for the very young and pregnant women.

Unfortunately, our outbreak spread to Samoa, where it had a devastating impact on a population with even lower vaccination rates, claiming 83 lives, most of them babies and children under 15.

Recovery from measles can be long. The rash may fade in a week but fatigue, respiratory issues and immune suppression can linger for months. For families, this means missed work, school absences and stress. For communities, it means strain on health services and the risk of further spread.

Herd immunity (where 95% of us are vaccinated) isn’t just a concept, it’s a scientifically proven shield we build together to stop spread. That’s how we eliminated measles before 2019. But we became complacent and vaccination rates fell. Today, they’re even lower.

So, although the conversation around vaccines may be complex, the science is clear. The MMR vaccine works and it’s safe. And as a GP who’s seen the consequences firsthand, I’ll keep having these conversations – even at dinner parties.

Dr Allan Moffitt is clinical director for ProCare and a specialist GP who has been practising for 40 years.

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