Six new cases of measles and one death have been reported in Bor State Hospital, the main referral hospital in Jonglei State, in the past week, the facilities director, Dr. Bol Chau, said.
According to the doctor, the outbreak has mainly affected children under the age of five who he said are more vulnerable to the highly contagious viral disease that causes fever, rash, cough, and sometimes blindness and even death.
He urged parents to bring their children to the hospital or take them to the nearest health centers for vaccination which is effective in preventing measles and is free of charge.
“There has been an outbreak of measles and we have been recording cases since 2022. All along, we have been having cases that have been admitted from various locations like Lakes State while others are from far-flung counties of Jonglei,” Dr. Chau explained. “Currently, we have five patients that are admitted in the Measles Isolation Department but initially we had many.”
The medic said the hospital is providing treatment to the isolated measles patients, conducting contact tracing, as well as preparing, with partners, to roll out awareness campaigns to contain the outbreak.
“The state health ministry together with the national ministry of health took up the campaigns such that all those who are not able to access vaccination services can be reached in those hard-to-reach areas and be vaccinated to protect them from measles,” he stated.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), South Sudan has one of the lowest measles vaccination coverage rates in the world, at 59 percent in 2019. The country has been facing recurrent outbreaks of measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases, exacerbated by years of conflict, displacement, and poor health infrastructure.
WHO and its partners have been supporting the health ministry to conduct mass vaccination campaigns across the country, reaching a total of 770,581 children between March and November 2022.
However, the WHO said more efforts are needed to achieve the global target of 95 percent coverage, which is required to eliminate measles as a public health threat.