The Department of Health has raised concerns amid rising measles infections and has urged parents to immunise children to prevent further spread during and after the festive season.
“We are very concerned about the sudden rise of laboratory-confirmed cases within a week. We urge parents in the outbreak provinces, district and beyond to ensure their kids have a safer and healthy festive season by keeping them updated with the immunisation scheduled, especially as there will be trans-provincial travelling to and from hotspot areas,” it said.
Most infections occurred in children aged between five and nine, but the national department of health said generally the ages of those affected ranged from two months and 42 years.
Measles infections have increased since the department announced 137 cases last week. Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and North West have 100, 50, and 13 infections respectively.
The Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Cape each have two cases, while Gauteng and Free State have eight and four recorded measles infections.
Spokesperson Foster Mohale said so far the outbreaks had been noted in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West, and on Thursday alone 13 new cases were recorded.
He warned that the viral infection which was usually associated with children could result in serious health complications.
“The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines a measles outbreak as three cases reported in a single district in one month,” said Mohale.
Typically, patients with measles had a fever and a rash and this could also be accompanied by coughing, red eyes and runny nose.
“Complications of measles include pneumonia, diarrhoea, dehydration, encephalitis, blindness and death,” Mohale warned.
Health Minister Joe Phaahla previously announced an ongoing immunisation campaign in Limpopo that would be rolled out nationally in February.
Source: SABC News, News24, IOL, image from Twitter: @markcha