Zimbabwe at risk of Measles Outbreak

Zimbabwe faces a significant outbreak of a serious type of measles with cases of the mild type of the disease having been positively identified last week and amid revelations the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) will chip in when the situation gets desperate.

The country, which contained measles at the end of the 1990s, witnessed a resurgence of the disease in 2009.

Now Government health officials say seven cases of a mild type of measles – rubella – in Gokwe in Midlands province indicates the country could soon record more serious types.

Information gathered by The Sunday Mail shows that the country’s immunisation rate for child killer diseases stands at 69 percent and GAVI can only provide rubella vaccine when coverage reaches 80 percent.

The child killer diseases are measles, polio, diphtheria, tuberculosis, whooping cough, pneumonia and typhoid.

The Health and Child Care Ministry has confirmed the seven rubella cases in Gokwe North, adding that at least 189 suspected serious types of measles were reported countrywide during the past week.

Rubella, commonly known as German measles, is an infection that primarily affects the skin and lymph nodes.

It is caused by the rubella virus, which is usually transmitted by direct contact with an infected person.

The rubella rash can look like other viral rashes, but appears as either pink or light red spots, which may merge to form evenly coloured patches.

The rash is itchy and a victim can develop a headache, loss of appetite, mild conjunctivitis (inflammation of the lining of the eyelids and eyeballs), a stuffy or running nose, swollen lymph nodes and swelling of joints.

Medical experts say rubella is highly infectious and can also be passed from a pregnant woman to the foetus through the bloodstream.

Health experts say what is worrying is that Zimbabwe faces financial challenges and cannot immediately scale up immunisation levels to 80 percent to guarantee WHO vaccine assistance.

Dr Portia Manangazira, director of epidemiology and disease control in the Health Ministry, said medical facilities should be on high alert for measles and investigate all suspected cases.

“It (rubella) is generally a mild disease in children.

“Our main worry is the primary medical danger it causes in pregnant women because it can cause congenital rubella syndrome in developing babies,” she said.

Dr Manangazira said her unit would push for the next national immunisation programme to begin in the first few weeks of 2015.