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Measles in South Africa
2 January 2005
An outbreak of measles in the Umzinyathi, Uthungulu and Zululand districts of KwaZulu-Natal in October has spread to the Ekombe and Inkandla areas, the provincial health department said today.
Response teams had been sent to Uthungulu, Ugu, Sisonke and Umgungundlovu to immunise all children from six-months to 15-years in an attempt to curb the spread of the epidemic. The oldest person infected in the outbreak was a 52-year-old from Mooiriver, and the youngest a three-month-old baby from Umzinyathi, the department said.
Only this week, it recorded one confirmed case in Ugu, five in Umgungundlovu, two in Uthukela, 87 in Umzinyathi, seven in Zululand, six in Umkhanyakude, 32 in Uthungulu, one in Ilembe, three in eThekwini, two in Sisonke and one elsewhere.
There were another 307 suspected cases in the region.
Source: South African Broadcasting Corporation
Comment
Children should have received their MMR vaccine before visiting South Africa. Measles is common in many countries outside Europe, and any link between MMR vaccine and autism has been firmly refuted.
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