Samoa measles epidemic worsens with 24 children now dead
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Authorities said Monday that a measles epidemic sweeping through Samoa continues to worsen with the death toll rising to 25, all but one of them young children.
“We still have a big problem at hand,” Samoa’s Director General of Health Leausa Take Naseri said in a video statement.
He said more than 140 new cases of people contracting the virus had been recorded within the past day, bringing the total to about 2,200 cases since the outbreak began last month. He said there are about 20 critically ill children who remain in hospital intensive care units
APRIL 18, 201901:59
The government also shut down a private clinic and is investigating how hundreds of vaccines were taken without authorization and then sold for a fee.
The median age of those who have died is 13 months, according to government figures. The deaths include 24 children under the age of 5, 11 of whom were infants under 12 months. The other person who died was in their 30s.
In all, 679 people have been admitted to Samoan hospitals with the disease, accounting for two-thirds of all recent hospital admissions. A majority have been discharged, with about 183 remaining in hospitals.
“These hospitals are not designed to deal with this,” Dr. Scott Wilson told Newshub in the capital, Apia. “The minute you get hospitals running at 200 to 300 percent capacity — I think it speaks for itself. It’s incredibly serious.”
Figures from the World Health Organization and UNICEF indicate that measles immunization rates among Samoan infants have fallen steeply from over 70 percent in 2013 to under 30 percent last year.
Helen Petousis-Harris, a vaccine expert at New Zealand’s University of Auckland, said the Samoan government halted its immunization program for several months last year after two infants died from a medical mishap involving a vaccine.
Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand have also reported outbreaks of measles but on a smaller scale than in Samoa. American Samoa, which has declared a public health emergency, is requiring that travelers from Samoa and Tonga prove they have been vaccinated or are immune from measles before being allowed into the U.S.
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From 2013 to 2019 the vaccination rate for measles has fallen from 70% to 30%,
This is the result.
The fact that the government stopped their vac program is a lot to blame.
Also, what is not being documented is the number of cancer patients going through chemo who have died from the measles. They are the unforeseen outcome of this outcome.
In doing more research it seems that New Zealand exported the measles to both Samoa and Tonga.
They stopped the vaccinations for a couple of months and then continued them. I think that the two children that died from complications of the vaccinations stopped the parents from getting them once they started the vaccinations again.
That is nuts. People die from almost every medication out there. To go into panic mode over 2 deaths, sad as they be, is just not logical. Obviously, the gov is not doing enough to educate their populous.
Samoan's are very religious. LDS is one of the largest congregations in Samoa along with Roman Catholics and there is also a fair large contingent of Seven Day Adventists and the Assembly of God.
I don't know if this has anything to do with the vaccination situation.
This is a photo of the LDS Temple in Apia, Samoa.
No, Anti vac people are not faith-based usually. In NY, it is the ultra-Orthodox Jews and Christian Scientist.
Where is this happening?
NYC.
I hope this opens the eyes of all the anti vaxers here.
I do as well. When you consider the size of the Samoan population, 190,000, and to date cases of 2200 and deaths of 25 this could well devastate the entire Samoan population.
Dear Brother Kavika: Sad.
Very sad indeed.
Perfectly preventable.
"Suffer the children".
P&AB.
Enoch.