Health

Woman latest measles victim

November 23, 2019 6:00 am

There are now ten confirmed cases of measles in the country.

The latest confirmed case is a 25-year-old pregnant woman from Samabula, Suva

The Health Ministry says the woman presented to the CWM Hospital on Thursday and is currently admitted under isolation.

Article continues after advertisement

The Suva Sub-divisional Outbreak Response Team has responded to the notification of this new case through the tracing of contacts, with vaccination, and quarantine if needed.

Meanwhile, the two-year-old confirmed case in the previous measles advisory has been discharged from the CWM Hospital.

The Serua/Namosi Sub-divisional Outbreak Response Team has vaccinated 100% of the residents in Waibogi Village since notification of this case on November 20th.

An 11-year-old student of the Fiji School for the Blind is currently a suspected case and is isolated at the school awaiting test results. Students and staff at the school were vaccinated and quarantined on Thursday before being cleared by the Response Team.

The Ministry of Health has confirmed there is an interim shortage of the measles vaccine.

For this reason, the remaining measles vaccine stock will be prioritized to those who are at the greatest risk of catching and spreading measles and it is not available for the public until additional stocks arrive in the coming days.

Current stocks are being reserved for the following high-risk target groups:

1. The residents of Serua/Namosi
2. Children from the ages of 6 months to 3 years
3. People traveling overseas, however proof of travel must be shown i.e. ticket/travel itinerary, not just a passport.

The routine immunization of children at 12 and 18 months of age will continue as per the national immunization schedule.

The only exceptions to those in the above groups are pregnant women, those with compromised immune systems, and those with a known allergy to the vaccine.

These people should not be vaccinated.