Measles vaccine

The medical director of Malualkoon health facility in the former Aweil East State says two children have died of measles.

They succumbed to the disease yesterday.

Dr. Ring Yak Chan told Eye Radio that the two deaths have raised the toll in the area to eight in the recent outbreak.

This week alone, 27 new cases have so far been registered at the hospital.

The hospital has now ran out of measles vaccines and other antibiotics, according to the medic.

“The major challenge is the shortage of drugs especially drugs for managing measles complication like pneumonia,” Dr. Yak said.

Early this month, the Ministry of Health launched a nationwide measles campaign targeting 2.5 million children following the recent outbreak in the country.

In 2019, South Sudan registered a measles outbreak in 24 counties and four internally displaced people’s camps.

The ministry and its health partners had described the outbreak as the worst since 2011.

There were a total of 4,701 confirmed cases with 26 deaths, especially in Aweil South and Ikotos counties.

Dr. Yak stressed that the major problem is lack of medicine and other equipment for resuscitating patients in the hospital.

“We do not have equipment for resuscitating patients who are critically ill like that child who passed away yesterday,” he added.

Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the measles virus.

The symptoms usually develop between 10 to12 days after exposure to an infected person.

Initial symptom s include fever, often greater than 40 °C, cough, runny nose, and inflamed eyes. It can be prevented through vaccination.