November 1, 2021
By Hafsatu Z Bangura
The Ministry of health and sanitation on 29 October, 2021, has declared a measles outbreak in kambia district.
This came after the Kambia district health management team (DHMT) was notified by the Bamoi Luma community health center (CHC).
Three suspected cases of measles were confirmed by a test conducted on children aged from 3,5,and 6, years respectively around the residents of Fullah Town and Guinea Park communities within the Bamoi Luma CHC catchment area.
There have been a total of 3 confirmed cases froms a cluster of suspended cases in Bamoi luma in the district.
The District Surveillance Unit conducted preliminary investigations including active case search in the surrounding communities leading to the identification and detection of twelve additional suspected cases.
Blood samples were collected from seven of the suspected cases for confirmation at the central public health reference laboratory (CPHRL) in Freetown on the 21st of October 2021, of which three of the sample tested for measles.
The outbreak was identified in three or more laboratory confirmed cases in a community or district within a span of one month.
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) is working with the world health organization and other partners and has dispatched a rapid response team to conduct detailed investigation of the outbreak and plan for a response.
Measles is serious; it is a vaccine preventable disease that is caused by a virus. When children are unvaccinated, the virus can spread quickly and cause severe illnesses, disability and deaths.
A safe, free and effective vaccine is available to protect children against the virus with two doses given as part of the routine vaccination schedule in Sierra Leone (the first dose at 9months and the second at 15months)
The Ministry of Health advises and encourages the public to get their children vaccinated against measles.
Measles vaccination is available free of cost at all health facilities in the country.
The public is hereby reminded that it is important to take prevention measures to control the spread of measles.
The following precautions were recommended by the Ministry of health and sanitation.
All citizens should avoid overcrowding.
Keep children home from school if sick.
The ministry also advises all to ensure that the vaccination status of your child is up to date for all vaccine preventable diseases
The release also stated that it is important to everybody to stay calm and not to panic, and to drink plenty of fluids and maintain good hydration.
The release noted that all suspected measles cases with fever and rash on the must be reported to the nearest health facility.