GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Measles vaccination in the Garden Route during the Covid pandemic followed the same downward trend as the world over.

In the public health sector, vaccination coverage in the Garden Route currently stands at 86%. 

This is for second dose vaccination (the first dose is administered at six months and the second dose at 12 months). The World Health Organisation (WHO) says coverage of 95% or more of two doses of vaccine is needed to create herd immunity and achieve and maintain measles elimination.

Responding to a query from George Herald, district spokesperson for Western Cape Health Nadia Ferreira said during the 2020/2021 financial year, the vaccination coverage for measles was 82%, so the rate has increased after the pandemic. 

"The department will also conduct a catch-up measles campaign in February next year."

Three measles cases have been reported in the district.

"Since measles is a notifiable disease, each case is reported through the different structures in the district. We also do regular communication on the importance of childhood vaccinations to emphasise the importance of protecting our children from preventable diseases such as measles," Ferreira says.

A measles outbreak has been reported in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. According to the National Institute for Communicable Disease (NICD), from 1 September to 30 November, 99 measles cases were reported in these two provinces.

The ages of the infected persons in Limpopo ranged from three months to 42 years, while in Mpumalanga, ages ranged from four months to 13 years. The most affected age group is school-going children, namely in the five to nine years age group in Mpumalanga and one to four years old in Limpopo.

Three laboratory-confirmed measles cases were hospitalised and no measles deaths have been reported here.

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