measles

Samoa Govt expects measles epidemic to escalate

Health staff were being redirected, with plans for an isolation unit to quarantine measles patients and a push for the public to get their MMR vaccinations, said the ministry's Deputy Director General of Public Health, Robert Thomsen.

He said if the New Zealand measles outbreak was not brought under control soon the epidemic would only worsen for Samoa.

The measles vaccine was still a delicate topic in Samoa after two infants, who received the Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, died last year due to human error.

Infant dies in Samoa amid measles scare

The boy had been confined for a week at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital at Motootua isolation unit for patients suspected of having measles.

He died on White Sunday.

The mother told the Samoa Observer that her son was first admitted last Monday.

The Ministry of Health Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Tagaloa Robert Thomsen, said the Ministry could not confirm the cause of the child's death, or even if the child was infected with measles until conclusive testing had been completed.

Miss Samoa pushes measles message in Auckland

An interim report by the Auckland Regional Public Health Service shows half of South Auckland under fives have needed a hospital bed due to measles, with some of them staying longer to treat complications like pneumonia.

A Samoan Public Health nurse, who has recently been crowned Miss Samoa, is using her platform to share the importance of immunisations to parts of the community that often miss regular public health messaging.

Samoa MMR programme to re-start this month

The MMR programme was halted last July following the death of two infants after they received the vaccination.

Two nurses have been charged with their manslaughter.

The World Health Organisation's representative to Samoa Rasul Baghirov said they will step-up the programme and aim to have all eligible children vaccinated by the end of April.

The potential for the measles outbreak in New Zealand to spread to Samoa has created an extra sense of urgency according to Dr Baghirov.

Restoring confidence in the programme remains a hurdle, he said.

Measles resurgence 'due to vaccine hesitancy', WHO warns

The World Health Organization data shows a rise in cases in almost every region of the world, with 30% more cases in 2017 than 2016.

Experts say complacency, collapsing health systems and a rise in fake news about the vaccine are behind the rise.

They say the measles vaccines can save millions of lives.

Measles is a highly contagious disease that in severe cases can lead to complications such as blindness, pneumonia and infection and swelling of the brain.

Samoa PM wants inquiry into infant deaths

The vaccine provides protection from measles, mumps and rubella.

The police are investigating the deaths as the Ministry of Health conducts its own inquiry.

The Director General of Health, Leausa Take Naseri, said the vaccination programme had been called off until the completion of the investigations.

"We have requested a forensic autopsy, post-mortem on the two babies because it's a police case. It's now also a very different case in the health field," he said.

Deadly measles complication is more common than thought, study says

Researchers figured this out by looking at records of people who had a neurological disease called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE, in California between 1998 and 2016. The research was presented at IDWeek, an infectious-disease conference, in October.

SSPE is a neurological complication from measles in which, essentially, the body has an abnormal immune response to the virus.