The National Prescriber Service MedicineWise has issued a warning for parents to check their children's immunisation records before the start of the school year, following a spate of measles cases being reported across Australia.
NPS MedicineWise clinical adviser Dr Andrew Boyden said: “Widespread vaccination has made measles a relatively rare infection in Australia, but outbreaks can still occur and we have seen some cases here in recent months."
In most cases Dr Boyden said the infection was caught overseas and spread to people in Australia who were not immunised.
Measles is spread when saliva droplets containing the virus are inhaled by others, often when someone who is infected sneezes or coughs. The high infectious disease can be caught 2 hours after someone with measles has left a room.
The disease can lead to ear and lung infections and in rare cases lead to encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), which can be fatal or cause brain damage.
The warning comes after a spate of measles outbreaks in WA, NSW, Victoria and SA.
The latest outbreak was reported in WA this week. Earlier this month, a dance event in Sydney resulted to a major measles outbreak that spread to several states and New Zealand.