Institute for Communicable Diseases warns about measles outbreak
Measles is preventable through a safe and effective vaccine. Caregivers and mothers are urged to ensure that children are up to date with their routine vaccinations.
Reported in Ster’s edition of June 14, 2022:
During the last two weeks of May 2022, four cases of measles from persons resident in Gauteng have been notified and confirmed through laboratory testing by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
The NICD reported last week that three of these are known to be epidemiologically linked, and are resident in south-western Tshwane. The fourth case is a resident from the West Rand. All four are presently isolated and recovering.
The NICD says health authorities in the affected districts and communities are working together to identify contacts, promote and offer vaccination. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), two or more cases of measles in a health district within one month is regarded as a measles outbreak.
As far as Ster could establish, no cases have yet been reported in the Vaal Triangle but as this area is in relatively close proximity to the outbreak areas, local residents are requested to be aware of the symptoms.
Measles is a highly contagious disease and spreads through airborne respiratory droplets from infected persons when coughing or sneezing. Measles commonly presents with respiratory tract symptoms and any of the three C’s: conjunctivitis, cough, and coryza. Other symptoms can include fever, fatigue and muscle pain, which typically appear before the onset of the disease’s characteristic maculopapular rash. Children under 1 year of age may develop complications including bronchopneumonia, keratoconjunctivitis, and rarely, encephalitis. These complications may lead to irreversible damage and/or death, especially in immunocompromised or malnourished children. Furthermore, even healthy children who develop measles develop transient immunosuppression and are more susceptible to common childhood illnesses for at least one year after infection.
The Gauteng Department of Health is working together with the City of Tshwane and the West Rand district health teams, the National Department of Health, the NICD, and WHO staff members to investigate and respond to the outbreak.
Measles is a notifiable medical condition (NMC) according to the National Health Act. Health care workers should notify all suspected cases via the NMC app: https://www.nicd.ac.za/nmc-overview/overview/. Practitioners should submit a blood specimen for antibody testing and a throat swab along with a completed case investigation form. Samples should be submitted to the NICD, marked ‘NICD Measles Laboratory – Attention CVI’. Tests are free of charge.
Measles is preventable through a safe and effective vaccine. Caregivers and mothers are urged to ensure that children are up to date with their routine vaccinations. According to the South African Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), children are given the MeasBio® (Biovac) vaccine at 6 months old and a booster at 12 months. These vaccines are available free of charge at public health facilities. The measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR) is also available, at cost, in private sector clinics and is equally effective and safe.
The DA’s Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, Jack Bloom, last week expressed concern because figures from the Gauteng Health Department show that the vaccination rates for the measles second dose have dropped in the last few years to about 80%.
“It used to be close to 100% but declined even before the disruption caused by the Covid-19 epidemic. The Gauteng Health Department needs to take special measures to reverse the slippage in vaccine coverage for children. The DA urges all parents to keep up to date with all child vaccines which are available free of charge at public clinics,” Bloom said
Illustration Photo: Owen Humphries
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