The Human Rights Commission yesterday said its preliminary view of the proposed ban did not a breach legislation. But the spokesperson, Glyn Peters, said the commission would reserve its final position in case a complaint was made. Parents spoken to by the Herald yesterday said they were furious the infected boy was not immunised and had exposed heir children to a killer disease. The general manager of the Starship, p, Grant Close, said a senior registrar found the child showing no signs of diphtheria July 30. The accompanying referral note from the child's general practitioner had earlier that day diagnosed a sore throat.
Diphtheria can attack the heart and lead to paralysis.
But eight days later, laboratory tests confirmed toxic diphtheria bacteria along with heavy growth of another throat bacteria. It does seem like a long time but that's the way the system is. Maybe we need to review that. Dr Jones said the GP had put the boy on antibiotics, so the risk of spread to other children would be very low. A Ministry of Health specialist, Dr Osman Mansoor, said less than 70 per cent of children were fully immunised.