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MEMBERS of the Johane Marange Apostolic Church have heeded the call by health authorities to get vaccinated against measles, during the ongoing vaccination blitz.
This was said by the City of Harare health department epidemiologist, Dr Michael Vere.
Council’s health department aims to vaccinate about 294 000, during the ongoing National Measles Vaccination campaign, which began on Monday, and ends on September 8.
In an interview with H-Metro yesterday, Dr Vere said Harare has not been affected much.
“Harare has been less affected than other provinces, and currently we have 237 suspected cases, and among those, only four are confirmed cases,” he said.
“The most affected areas are Mbare, Waterfalls and Kuwadzana.
“We have also noted that in terms of religious sects, the Marange Apostolic sect is the most affected and we are lucky that they are coming to get vaccinated.
“They are coming to our clinics to get vaccinated and I think this is probably because of the health education they are getting in their communities.”
Dr Vere revealed that among the suspected cases of measles reported, 50 percent are unvaccinated while the other 50 percent are vaccinated.
“So, most of the cases that are vaccinated presented to us are mild, while the unvaccinated ones present moderate to severe disease.
“Among cases admitted, we have noted that the majority are unvaccinated and they are from the Marange sect, so it is important that people get vaccinated.
“Measles is a highly contagious disease, which spreads very fast in the community, so it means if you have anybody, who is suspecting measles, they need to be isolated from others.”
Dr Vere said there was need for increased vaccination advocacy.
“We need to increase our advocacy on the vaccination blitz.
“We have made some groundwork for now, but we still need to improve, in terms of coverage and advocacy.”
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter