Samoa measles death toll rises to 32

By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews

Samoan health authorities have reported seven additional measles fatalities since our last report yesterday.

As of November 26, the Ministry of Health confirms a total of 2,437 cases and 32 measles related deaths, with 243 new cases reported within the last 24 hours. Most of the 176 currently hospitalized patients are children, some of them critically ill in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The vaccination rate in Samoa is an abysmal 31 percent. Today, the government reminds the public that the mass vaccination campaign for the measles epidemic is continued this week.

In total 32,743 people (4,222 are children under the age of 5 years) were vaccinated prior to the initiation of the mass vaccination campaign that targets all boys and girls, aged 6 months to 19 years and women (unless they are pregnant) aged 20 to 35 years.

Since the activation of the Mass Vaccination Campaign on 20 November 2019, the Ministry has vaccinated 24,000 individuals in both Upolu and Savaii islands.