Reports show that cases of measles are seemingly increasing since the outbreak was first announced.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said in a statement last Thursday that 22 laboratory-confirmed cases of measles had been reported in Mpumalanga since September 1, in the Elukwatini area in the Gert Sibande District.
It stated that in Mpumalanga, in 13 of these cases, the vaccination histories were unknown, in six others, the patients had not received any measles vaccine dose, and in the last three cases, the patients were fully immunised.
The Mpumalanga Department of Health (DoH) said the confirmed cases were discovered through routine measles surveillance and they informed NICD on the current updates.
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The DoH spokesperson, Dumisani Malamule, said, “The department 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.”
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Malamule said they are urging parents to get their children immunised, and if they see any symptoms, they should take them to the nearest health facility.
According to the NICD, any person of any age who is not vaccinated can catch measles and develop the disease.
