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A view shows MMR vaccine
The Gauteng Health Department says it is undertaking measles vaccination campaigns targeting schools as children under the age of 15 are mostly affected.
Measles is a highly infectious viral disease. A person can get infected by the air droplets from coughing and sneezing.
Tshwane is currently the hotspot for measles in the province. The department urges residents to get their children vaccinated.
Gauteng Health Department’s Mashaole Makwela says they’re managing the outbreak,
“Currently Tshwane is the hotspot and purely because there is an increase, especially from May to June, of cases but we have been having sporadic cases that have been reported throughout the year. We’ve seen that even in Johannesburg the cases have been increasing throughout January to date. Clusters of outbreaks here and there but Tshwane is the main area with cases in higher numbers, in Mamelodi to be specific. That is where we’ve managed to vaccinate almost 30 000 people to date. We’ve done this in the past three weeks or so.”
Earlier this year, the United Nations Children’s Fund reported global outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases are increasing, putting lives at risk and exposing countries to increased costs in response and treatment.
In the first three months of this year alone, more than 5 500 suspected cases of meningitis and nearly 300 deaths were reported in 22 countries and measles and yellow fever showed increases on the African continent.
