Cape Town – The number of measles cases in the country is rising, and so far, four out of nine provinces have reported outbreaks.
Health Minister Dr. Joe Phaahla, during a media briefing in Boksburg today, said a total of 137 cases of laboratory-confirmed measles had been reported from the four provinces between October 11 up until December 6.
“Limpopo and Mpumalanga have reported 89 and 40 cases, respectively. Another outbreak was declared in North West province on the 2nd of December, 2022, after three cases were reported. On the 6th of December, three cases were reported by Gauteng,” Phaahla said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines a measles outbreak as three cases reported in a single district in one month.
The age of patients across the country range from 2 months to 42 years. The dominant age category of laboratory-confirmed cases is the 5–9-year-old age group, which accounts for 56 cases, followed by the 1–4-year-old age group, which accounts for 40 cases. The least affected age group is the 0–1-year-old group, which Phaahla said suggests that parents do take their babies for vaccinations.
Of the 137 cases, 98 had an unknown vaccination status, 17 had a history of being vaccinated, while 22 were unvaccinated.
“The number of measles cases in the country is rising, and so far, four out of nine provinces have outbreaks. It is imperative to know the signs and symptoms. Measles patients present with fever, rash, and one or more of these symptoms: cough, red eyes, and runny nose. Complications of measles include pneumonia, diarrhoea, dehydration, encephalitis, blindness and death,” Phaahla said.
Measles complications are severe in malnourished children and young infants under two years of age.
Phaahla said provincial and district outbreak teams have been mobilised in line with outbreak response guidelines and have implemented necessary response measures. “Contact tracing and active case searches at health care facilities is ongoing, and blood samples from suspected measles cases are being forwarded to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) for testing,” Phaahla said.
Province-wide measles immunisation campaigns have also started while the National Mass Measles Immunisation Campaign, supported by the WHO, is planned for February 6–17, 2023.
Cape Times