Gauteng’s health department says the province has vaccinated just over 1.3 million children against measles.
Last month, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases declared a measles outbreak across the country.
The latest figures from the institute show there are 43 new confirmed cases. This brings the number of people who tested positive for measles to 459, including 86 in Gauteng.
Department Spokesperson Motalatale Modiba says Ekurhuleni is the most affected area.
“We got a total of about 86 confirmed cases. 62 of these are in Ekurhuleni district, 9 in Johannesburg and 11 in Tshwane. Sedibeng, funny enough, there are no cases as yet that we have recorded there and there are four cases from the West Rand. So, we are working very closely with the Department of Education because most of the children we are targeting, you will find them at the primary school level.”
The Gauteng Province has to date reported a total of 86 confirmed measles cases. To date, over 1 371 055 children have been immunised across the province. Parents are encouraged to ensure that their little ones are immunised #MeaslesOutbreak#AsibeHealthyGP pic.twitter.com/eONPZieIqw
— Gauteng Health (@GautengHealth) March 2, 2023
Age groups most affected
The largest number of measles cases have been recorded in children between the ages of five to nine, followed by the one to four-year age group and then the 10 to 14-year age group.
“All children should have two doses of the measles vaccine. In the public sector, we give those doses at six months and 12 months. On an ongoing basis, we provide catch-up doses, up until the age of five years. The five provinces with outbreaks have started mass vaccination campaigns. That is an additional dose, even if the child has received the two doses of vaccine, we recommend that all children in the targeted age group, receive a dose during the mass vaccination campaign.”
Dr Bamford elaborates in the video below:
