The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said in a statement last Thursday November 24 that 11 laboratory-confirmed cases of measles were reported in Mpumalanga since September 1: nine in the Ehlanzeni District, one in the Gert Sibande District, and one in the Nkangala District.
The statement said that in Mpumalanga, in three of these cases, the vaccination histories were unknown, in five others, the patients did not receive any measles vaccine doses, and in the last three cases, the patients were fully immunised.
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Before NICD released its statement, the Mpumalanga Department of Health had issued a statement on November 15, that a measles outbreak had hit, and that three laboratory-confirmed measles cases had been detected in the Ehlanzeni District.
The confirmed cases were discovered between November 1 and 10 through routine measles surveillance.
The Mpumalanga MEC for health, Sasekani Manzini, urged parents and caregivers to take their children to their nearest health facilities for routine immunisation and ensure that their vaccinations are up to date. Measles vaccines are given routinely at six and 12 months of age. It is never too late to vaccinate against measles.
“The first laboratory-confirmed case was an 18-month old male child diagnosed in Lydenburg Hospital in the Thaba Chweu Subdistrict. After the case was discovered, the department was alerted on November 1. The second laboratory-confirmed case was a three-year-old male child diagnosed at Orinocco Clinic, Bushbuckridge Subdistrict, and the department was notified on November 8. The last laboratory-confirmed case is a six-year-old child diagnosed at Dwarsloop Community Health Centre, Bushbuckridge Subdistrict, and the case was notified on November 11.”
Before the cases amounted to 11 in number, the Ehlanzeni District was declared a measles outbreak area on October 28, due to the fact that it shares a border with the Greater Sekhukhune and Mopani districts in Limpopo. At the time, Limpopo had some cases reported.
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The department said it is on high alert and has put strategies in place to contain and prevent the further spread of the outbreak, including outbreak response teams being activated, clinicians being trained on vaccine-preventable diseases, measles surveillance being strengthened, scale-up catch-up measles campaigns being conducted in the province, community awareness being created, case investigation and contact tracing being initiated to identify any new measles cases, and measles vaccination catch-up doses being given in all healthcare facilities for the children who missed them before, to increase immunity in the communities.
According to the NICD, any person of any age who is not vaccinated can catch measles and develop the disease.
Measles is highly infectious and spreads rapidly from person to person.
“Measles presents with fever, malaise, cough, conjunctivitis and a runny nose. A maculopapular non-itchy, non-vesicular rash appears on the face, neck, trunk and limbs, usually on day four of the illness. Other measles complications are pneumonia, scarring of the cornea (kerato-conjunctivitis) and, rarely, encephalitis.”
