The outbreak of measles in South Africa is due to low vaccine coverage, according to Dr Kerrigan McCarthy from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
After 200 cases were reported in just one week, the NICD has moved swiftly to declare a measles outbreak. There has since been a 100 more cases reported since the first 200 were reported a week ago.
The measles cases, first reported in Limpopo in October 2022, have now been recorded in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free State, and North West, bringing the total to five provinces affected by the outbreak.
In December, the World Health Organisation announced that measles vaccine uptake has declined following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Measles is a vaccine-preventable disease and one of the reasons we still see outbreaks is [that] we collectively have failed to attain a high enough vaccination coverage,” McCarthy said.
“And this means when measles is introduced into our communities, there are sufficient unvaccinated persons to allow the virus to spread from person to person.”
The NICD said the ages in confirmed cases range from two months to 42 years. The majority of cases (92) were in the 5-9 years old age group followed by 64 cases in the 1-4 years old age group and 31 cases in the 10-14 years old age group.
A family physician, Dr Randall Ortel, said: “I have attended one of our monthly check-in meetings in a province where we keep tabs on all health alerts, this allows us to monitor and respond to these outbreaks easily and faster. We are able to monitor where the cluster is and where the resources need to be spent.
“People need to vaccinate. Looking at the statistics only a few of these patients are vaccinated and mostly the unvaccinated are affected by this outbreak. The vaccinations are completely free.
“Measles predominately affects children and my advice is that parents should get their children vaccinated as soon as possible. The first vaccination is given at nine months and the second shot is given at 18 months, so parents should make sure that their children get their measles immunisation.”
Ortel explained further: “Measles is easily identified, but it’s very important to educate and be educated on the basic signs and symptoms of measles. Look out for a rash, fever, infection in the eye, a cough, and an itchy runny nose.
“All the health professionals and facilities should be on high alert for measle symptoms and create awareness around it, making it easier for cases to be identified and for patients to be treated earlier.”
Ortel said children from six months to five years should be tested and given a Vitamin A dose 24 hours after measles is confirmed. Vitamin A helps with the recovery process.
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