Low immunisation coverage among young children in Samoa allowed a measles outbreak to take hold from ConversationEDU
Tragically, 40 per cent of recorded deaths have been in babies under one year old, and nearly 90 per cent among children less than five.With a population of 200,000, Samoa has fewer people than Geelong or Hobart. So a significant proportion of the population has been affected. More than one in five Samoan babies aged six to 11 months have contracted measles during this outbreak, and more than one in 150 babies in this age group have died.
The most frustrating and tragic thing about this outbreak is that a safe and effective vaccine is available. A single dose of measles vaccine provides protection to between 95-98 per cent of recipients, while two doses protect 99 per cent of vaccinated people.Because measles is so infectious, about 94 per cent of the population need to be vaccinated to stop it spreading.
When a traveller re-introduced measles to Samoa in August this year, these unvaccinated children made it possible for measles to gain a foothold and spread throughout the country.The first laboratory-confirmed measles cases were reported in September, and an outbreak was declared in October. In the face of rising measles cases and deaths, the Samoan government declared a state of emergency on November 15, setting the scene for a campaign of mandatory vaccination.
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