Measles in South Africa

30 Dec 2014

There has been a resurgence of measles in 7 provinces of South Africa. The reported numbers are small, however, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases has issued an alert. Between 2009-2011, South Africa suffered a severe measles outbreak that resulted in 18 000 cases. In 2013, only 6 measles cases were reported in the entire country.

The affected provinces include: Northern Cape (18 cases), Gauteng (10), Western Cape (4), Kwazulu-Natal (6), *Mpumalanga, *Eastern Cape and *Free State.

* Number of cases not mentioned in this report.

Advice for Travellers

It should be confirmed that children have received their recommended doses of MMR at 12-15 months of age and again pre-school around 3 years 6 months, while unimmunised adults who have not had the disease themselves may consider vaccination if thought to be at risk. Two doses of MMR vaccine are required to give adequate protection.