By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
There is an outbreak of a highly infectious notifiable viral disease, measles in the North West. According to the North West Department of Health, the specimens were collected at Lonely Park clinic in the Mahikeng sub-district.
The North West Department of Health spokesperson, Tebogo Lekgethwane said the Centre for Vaccines & Immunology (CVI) and National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) notified the department of three laboratory-confirmed measles cases with one equivocal case.
“Measles commonly presents with high fever, a general feeling of unwellness, coughing, a runny nose and teary eyes in two to three days, before a typical rash appears. Although there is no rash at the onset of the fever and flu-like symptoms, the patient is highly contagious during this time before the rash appears.
“A non-productive cough is usually present throughout the feverish period, persisting for one to two weeks in uncomplicated cases, often being the last symptom to disappear. Swelling of the glands commonly occurs in young children,” Lekgethwane said.
He further said older children usually complain of sensitivity to light and joint pains. Lekgethwane added, Koplik’s spots (small spots with white or bluish-white centres resembling “grains of salt sprinkled on a red background”), may be seen on the insides of the cheeks in over 80% of cases before the onset of the rash.
“A blotchy red rash usually appears behind the ears and on the face within two to four days after the pre-rash feverish period. The rash peaks in two to three days and becomes most concentrated on the trunk and upper extremities.
“It lasts from three to seven days. Malnourished or vitamin-deficient children may develop severe skin exfoliation. Complications may include middle-ear infection, blindness, diarrhoea, dehydration, respiratory infections, pneumonia, neurological complications such as convulsions, and even death,” he said.
Lekgethwane said the highest death rates occur in infants 6 to 11 months of age. He said these rates may underestimate the true lethality of measles because of incomplete reporting of the outcomes of measles illness, such as delayed deaths related to chronic diarrhoea.
“In certain high-risk populations cases, fatality rates as high as 20% or 30% have been reported in infants younger than 1 year old. Measles can also cause severe illness in children, and also in adults. One positive case of measles may quickly spread to up to 17 unprotected/unimmunised cases in a short period of time.
“Because measles so easily spread among groups of people, especially in schools and crèches, it is absolutely important to protect groups of children/people by immunisation/ vaccination with a safe measles vaccine,” said Lekgethwane.
The department said tracing is underway for patients whose address indicates, who are suspected to be residing in Signal Hill. He said the province will continue to monitor the development through the online dashboard.
The Provincial measles vaccination coverage is 79.4% (measles under 1 dose) and 82.3% (measles 2nd dose) respectively.
The Guardian 