Symptoms include fever, coughing, a runny nose, conjunctivitis and general discomfort. Photo for illustration purposes: iStock
The National Institute for Communicable Disease (NICD) alerted the Department of Health and Western Cape provincial government about the increase in laboratory-confirmed measles cases.
Four cases have been reported in Cape Town between 24 January 2023 to 17 February 2023.
Back in December 2022, an increase in measles cases was reported in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the North West, Gauteng and the Free State.
Although all laboratory-confirmed cases were investigated, no epidemiological link could be established.
The confirmed cases meet the South African outbreak criteria based on the 2015 EPI Surveillance Manual.
As such, the missing information on the laboratory-confirmed cases should be followed up, and all contacts should be vaccinated against measles.
Healthcare providers and caregivers should check children’s road-to-health booklets to ensure measles vaccinations are up to date.
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It is noted that the country started the National Measles Supplementary Immunisation campaign on 6 February 2023, including the Western Cape.
It should be documented and taken as a public health response to the measles cases, and the data for vaccination recorded in the measles campaign.
Measles is highly infectious and spreads rapidly from person to person. Children are usually given vaccines at six and 12 months of age, however, it is never too late to get the vaccine.
Back in November 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a “record high of nearly 40 million children [who] missed a measles vaccine dose”.
As per the report, approximately 25 million children missed their first dose and an additional 14.7 million missed their second dose.
Many of the measles immunisation campaigns were neglected during the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in “millions of kids missing out on life-saving vaccinations”, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the time.
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Symptoms include fever, coughing, a runny nose, conjunctivitis and malaise (general discomfort), while a non-vesicular rash appears on the face, neck, trunk, and limbs around the 4th day.
Other complications such as pneumonia, scarring of the cornea (kerato-conjunctivitis), and rare encephalitis could occur in extreme cases.
There are several ways South Africa could safeguard against a severe outbreak. Enhanced surveillance done at healthcare facilities is a start.
In addition, any suspected cases should be screened to check if meets the case definition before samples are sent to a laboratory for confirmation.