Health authorities are battling to control a measles outbreak at Queensland’s premier university and there are fears it could worsen.

Five University of Queensland (UQ) students have so far contracted the highly contagious virus.

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With more than 40,000 students and staff attending the UQ’s St Lucia campus in Brisbane’s west, Queensland Health today set up a special vaccination clinic in a bid to contain the outbreak.

Senior Medical Officer with Queensland Health’s Communicable Diseases Unit, Dr Heidi Carroll, urged students living in UQ colleges who were unsure if they had been vaccinated against measles to attend the clinic.

“People who were born on or after 1 January 1966 and have received one documented dose of a measles containing vaccine are recommended to receive another measles vaccination,” she said.

Measles is spreads from person-to-person by tiny droplets created during coughing and sneezing. Symptoms start about 10 days after infection and include fever, lethargy, runny nose, moist cough and sore, red eyes.

A blotchy red rash follows a few days later, often starting on the face and spreading across the body.

The first UQ measles case involved a student who fell ill after returning from an overseas trip five weeks ago. Queensland Health said the latest student to be struck down may have been at several Brisbane locations while infectious, including nearby shopping centres and hotels.

The student had also made multiple train trips during that time.

“People who may have come into contact with the patient who are uncertain of their immunity to measles should speak to their GP immediately,” Dr Carroll said.