ActionSA calls for the speedy control of the measles outbreak by the Mpumalanga Department of Health and for the MEC to brief the province on the plans to contain the spread of this outbreak.
Eleven laboratory-confirmed measles cases have been reported in the Mpumalanga Province, with nine from the Ehlanzeni District, one from the Gert Sibande District, and one from the Nkangala District.
The individuals confirmed to have contracted measles could not confirm if they had been vaccinated, five patients did not receive any measles vaccine dose, and three were fully immunised before the outbreak.
Measles patients present with fever, rash, and one or more of the following symptoms cough, red eyes, and runny nose. Complications of measles include pneumonia, diarrhoea, dehydration, encephalitis, blindness, and death.
ActionSA calls for communities to be alert for anyone with the above symptoms and signs and check children’s road-to-health booklets to ensure measles vaccinations are up to date.
Communities should report to healthcare facilities, catch-up measles vaccine doses are given to children who missed their measles vaccinations to increase immunity in the community.
More impoverished communities tend to experience more health problems and are thus are more reliant on a failing public health system.
We implore the Mpumalanga Provincial Government to take this seriously without further delay.
Measles Outbreak: ActionSA Calls for Speedy Containment by Provincial Health
ActionSA calls for the speedy control of the measles outbreak by the Mpumalanga Department of Health and for the MEC to brief the province on the plans to contain the spread of this outbreak.
Eleven laboratory-confirmed measles cases have been reported in the Mpumalanga Province, with nine from the Ehlanzeni District, one from the Gert Sibande District, and one from the Nkangala District.
The individuals confirmed to have contracted measles could not confirm if they had been vaccinated, five patients did not receive any measles vaccine dose, and three were fully immunised before the outbreak.
Measles patients present with fever, rash, and one or more of the following symptoms cough, red eyes, and runny nose. Complications of measles include pneumonia, diarrhoea, dehydration, encephalitis, blindness, and death.
ActionSA calls for communities to be alert for anyone with the above symptoms and signs and check children’s road-to-health booklets to ensure measles vaccinations are up to date.
Communities should report to healthcare facilities, catch-up measles vaccine doses are given to children who missed their measles vaccinations to increase immunity in the community.
More impoverished communities tend to experience more health problems and are thus are more reliant on a failing public health system.
We implore the Mpumalanga Provincial Government to take this seriously without further delay.