As the new school year gets under way next week, Western Cape health authorities warned on Friday of a measles epidemic in Cape Town if children are not immunised against the highly infectious disease.
”One infected child could easily infect other learners in his or her class that are not immunised and spread the disease within a very short period even further into the community,” said a joint statement from the provincial health department and the city health directorate.
There is heightened concern after an outbreak of measles was detected in Cape Town’s Fish Hoek and Sun Valley areas, with Gauteng and Kwazulu-Natal already experiencing major epidemics.
Authorities said immunisation coverage of between 85% and 90% is required to prevent the spread of measles. Fish Hoek and Sun Valley have a 40% immunisation coverage.
”The main reason for this extremely low coverage is the fact that a large percentage of parents are not presenting their children for measles vaccinations,” said the health authorities in a statement.
They said a similar situation exists in the more affluent suburbs of Constantia and the Atlantic Seaboard.
Health officials warned that measles could be a severe disease with serious complications and in some cases death, especially when large epidemics develop.
The disease is airborne and highly infectious, with an incubation period of seven to 10 days.
Officials urged parents to check the immunisation status of their children, fearing that the reopening of schools could provide an ”ideal opportunity for the escalation of the outbreak to epidemic proportions across the whole city”. — Sapa