The measles outbreak in Samoa sets an important precedent for global public health policy. Despite high vaccination rates, this outbreak has spread like wild fire. In this episode Hilary Butler joins me to give us a view of what it’s like on the ground there.
We tackle a number of pressing questions (many of which have no concrete answers yet):
- Where did the measles outbreak start?
- Why was it able to run rampant in a community that has a vaccination rate of 98%?
- What strains of measles are involved?
- Why death rates in Samoa are much higher than in New Zealand
- Why measles outbreaks in Tonga, Fiji and Samoa all started after the roll-out of mass vaccinations
- What happens when you vaccinate a person who is already infected?
- What are the effects of adding acetaminophen (Paracetamol) and antibiotics into the mix?
- Why are anti-vaxxers being blamed for the outbreak?
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