South Africa has recorded 40 new laboratory-confirmed measles cases in the past week, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Friday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
According to the NICD, it has tested 5 335 serum samples for measles since the outbreak last year, 865 of which (16%) were confirmed positive.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the public health institute said the percentage of samples testing positive (PTP) decreased from 22% of 255 samples tested in the previous week, compared to 14% of 214 samples last week.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Sporadic cases were reported in all nine provinces in South Africa in 2022.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
However, as of 25 March 2023, measles outbreaks were declared in eight provinces, except for the Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The outbreak was first declared in Limpopo in October 2022.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In the past week, the NICD said, no new cases were reported in Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, and Western Cape.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe measles strain detected in Limpopo and the North West is genotype D8, similar to the strain in Zimbabwe in the 2022 outbreak,\u201d the institute said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In the provinces, the most affected age groups are still the five to nine-year-olds (43%), with a considerable proportion of cases among children aged between one and four (24%) and those aged between 10 and 14 (19%).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The institution said vaccination campaigns should also include children aged 10 to 14.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the majority of cases (68%) were reported from primary healthcare facilities, and the highest proportion of infections were detected in hospitals (55%) in children under the age of one.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
According to the NICD, there are suggestions that the infection incidence is likely increasing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In Limpopo, Greater Sekhukhune and Waterberg drive the peak, while Ekurhuleni Municipality pushes the numbers in Gauteng.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In contrast, the numbers in Mpumalanga and the North West suggest infection incidence is likely decreasing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A virus in the paramyxovirus family, which infects the respiratory tract, and then spreads throughout the body, causes measles.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), measles is a human disease not known to occur in animals.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It can lead to major epidemics with significant morbidity and mortality, especially among vulnerable people.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
These include young and malnourished children, pregnant women and immunocompromised individuals, including those with HIV, cancer or treated with immunosuppressive.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Measles can cause serious complications, including ear infections, severe diarrhoea, blindness, encephalitis, pneumonia, and death.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Members of the public are urged to ensure their children are vaccinated against measles. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Source: South African Government News Agency<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South Africa has recorded 40 new laboratory-confirmed measles cases in the past week, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Friday.According to the NICD, it has tested 5 335 serum samples for measles since the outbreak last ye…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n