The 11-month old baby suspected of having measles who was isolated at Samoa’s National Hospital at Motootua has been discharged.
This was confirmed by the Director General of Health, Aiono Dr. Alec Ekeroma.
According to Aiono, the baby was discharged two days later after admission.
Samples have been sent to New Zealand for testing to confirm if it is measles with the results expected next week.
Furthermore, the Health Director urged all mothers with babies 9-months-old to have the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR1) vaccination and babies that are 15 months to have MMR2.
He also revealed that the vaccination rate for MMR1 stands at 84 per cent while MMR2 is 45 per cent respectively which represents about 5,500 babies.
Aiono said that their vaccination teams are out in the community including weekends to try and boost vaccination numbers.
With concerns of a possible measles epidemic happening again, the Director of Health explained that it will take an epidemic or a large number of measles cases in New Zealand/Fiji/Australia to cause an epidemic in Samoa.
“We will not have the scenario of 2019 when only 25 per cent of the children were vaccinated,” he added.
Last month, the Ministry of Health advised all parents of children under 5-years-old to ensure that their child have been immunised for MMR.
Despite ongoing immunisations, there are still a significant number of children under five who have not yet completed their scheduled immunisations especially for MMR, mostly from the Apia and North West Upolu areas.
Additionally, the Health Ministry stated that worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in severe drops in immunisation coverage for many childhood diseases including measles, resulting in outbreaks in many parts of the world.
“This situation is especially important given the recent measles case in Auckland, New Zealand and Australia,” reads a Health Ministry statement.
“With unrestricted travel and open borders, we are at high-risk for another measles outbreak.”
Samoa lost 98 children to the measles outbreak in 2019.
Photo credit: Adel Fruean Caption: The Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital at Moto'otua.