4 measles cases yet to be confirmed

By LULU MARK
FOUR suspected adult measles cases were identified last Friday in New Ireland and are being investigated.
During a press conference yesterday to update the public on the measles status in Papua New Guinea, Health secretary Pascoe Kase said they were awaiting laboratory test results.
Kase said the surveillance team had investigated a total of 83 suspected measles cases with acute fever and rash since last January, of which all were negative but the two recent samples collected from Gulf and New Ireland tested positive on Dec 22.
In Gulf, he said tests were done for four suspected cases in the Kikori district in which a three-year-old girl tested positive and in New Ireland there were 13 suspected cases in which a 23-year-old male inmate at Kavieng prison tested positive.
Kase said it was revealed that the adult male in New Ireland received just one dose of vaccine when he was a baby and the girl from Gulf received her first vaccination one week before she contracted measles.
He said it would take around two weeks for the vaccine to work so it was unfortunate for the girl.
Normally, a baby receives vaccine three times, at the recommended age of six months, nine months and 18 months, which provides lifetime immunity.
Kase said the case of adults contracting the measles virus could be attributed to the fact that they did not get or complete the three vaccination doses.
He said appropriate measures for detection and early response were taken in New Ireland and Gulf to identify any additional suspected cases and vaccinate children aged six months to 15 years with measles-rubella vaccines.