Malawi: 2010 Measles outbreaks

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.afriquejet.com/news/afri...k-hits-malawi-major-cities-2010031545887.html

Malawi: Measles outbreak hits Malawi major cities
News - Africa news

Over 100 hundred measles cases have been reported in Malawi's major cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe, sparking fears of an outbreak.

But health authorities have dismissed the outbreak fears, calling it "a normal occurance among unimmunised children".

Secretary for Health Chris Kang'ombe told PANA Monday that 74 cases of measles were reported in high-density townships of the commercial capital, Blantyre, by Friday.

He also said some cases had been reported in high-density townships of the administrative capital, Lilongwe.

"We cannot call this an outbreak because those children attacked are those that were not immunised against measles soon after birth," he said.

Measles is a respiratory infection caused by a virus. It can be highly-contagious if treatment is delayed.

It induces flu-like symptoms such us running nose, coughing and fever. It also causes skin-rashes.

Kang'ombe said the Ministry of Health had since intensified public awareness on the importance of having babies vaccinated against various diseases.

Blantyre - Pana 15/03/2010

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Malawi: 2010 Measles outbreaks

Source: http://www.google.ca/search?q=malaw...w&sa=X&oi=tool&resnum=1&ct=tlink&ved=0CCoQpwU
Malawi needs $4.1m to fight measles

By REX CHIKOKO, NATION Correspondent,
Posted Tuesday, April 20 2010 at 18:45
BLANTYRE, Tuesday


Malawi need about $4.1 million to curb the measles outbreak that has hit the country recently.

The exercise will target over six million children between 9 months to 15 years.

Since February, Malawi has reported cases of measles which has attacked some 1,400 people across the country and killed seven...

...Out of the 10 affected districts in the country, Blantyre, Malawi second biggest city, is the hardest hit with 626 cases reported...

Also see: http://www.africanews.com/site/Malawi_hit_by_measles/list_messages/31471

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Malawi: 2010 Measles outbreaks

Source: http://www.apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=123698

2010-05-06 13:03:55
Malawi-Health-Measles
Malawi facing serious cases of measles outbreak : Official


APA-Lilongwe (Malawi) Secretary for Health Chris Kang?ombe on Thursday said that Malawi has registered over 200 cases of the outbreak of measles in May alone.

But the government, through his Ministry of Health, has put in place necessary measures to ensure that the outbreak is stopped, he said in the capital Lilongwe...

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Malawi: 2010 Measles outbreaks

Source: http://www.africanews.com/site/Measles_attacks_3026_kills_8_in_Malawi/list_messages/31868

Measles attacks 3,026, kills 8 in Malawi
Posted on Monday 10 May 2010 - 12:44
Mtheto Lungu, AfricaNews reporter in Lilongwe, Malawi

Outbreak of measles in Malawi had taken ill over 3,000 people and killed eight in Blantyre alone. Twenty-six cases have been recorded by Monday in Mwanza and Neno districts. Health officials had last week announced it would require $4.1 million to vaccinate over six million children countrywide.

The situation has forced the government to jump the gun and implement its three year interval measles civic education and vaccination campaign to kick start immediately. Four districts in Malawi's Southern region, including Blantyre, are now on the crash programme.

Last week campaigns were rolled out in Blantyre, Chiradzulu and Mzimba districts.

Deputy Minister of Health Theresa Mwale said: "With assistance from MSF, France and Belgium we have rolled out this vaccination campaign. We are mainly targeting children below 15."

She called on all people to go for the vaccination.

A Ministry of Health official in Blantyre, Dr. Grace Chatsika said it was not yet known what is causing the outbreak at this time. "We are still carrying out our investigations and we hope soon we will identify the cause," she said.

Symptoms include a rash, running nose, temperature, and red eyes.

In Mwanza alone 13 cases have been recorded and 11 in Neno district in the Southern region.

?Vaccination has already rolled out in hot spot areas but there is need to cover the entire districts as soon as we can,? said Mwanza District Health officer, Dr. Frank Sanyizi.

In a related scenario, two children died of measles last week in over-populated Chinsapo residential area just some 15 kilometres away from the main referral Kamuzu Central Hospital, and three kilometres from the Catholic run Likuni Hospital in the capital city, Lilongwe.

Both the official and non-official figures currently add to 3,026 sick and 8 dead. Cases from other districts across the country continue to be tallied.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Malawi: 2010 Measles outbreaks

Source: http://www.africanews.com/site/Measles_outbreak_hits_top_prison_in_Malawi/list_messages/31915

Measles outbreak hits top prison in Malawi
Posted on Wednesday 12 May 2010 - 08:45

Sam Banda Jnr, AfricaNews reporter in Blantyre, Malawi
The measles outbreak in Malawi is reported to have attacked one of the top prisons - Chichiri in the Commercial City of Blantyre. According to Malawi Prison Services the outbreak is said to have so far attacked 20 inmates. The development has led to Malawi Prison Services to ban visitors and new admissions...
...Reports say that Chichiri prison has a capacity of 800 but is currently accommodating 1,800 inmates...

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Malawi: 2010 Measles outbreaks

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/10293784.stm


Measles in Malawi: Battling a deadly epidemic

Page last updated at 14:19 GMT, Friday, 11 June 2010 15:19 UK

A Glasgow doctor is among those currently responding to a major measles epidemic in Malawi.

Dr Neil Stone, who is working with international aid agency, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), tells BBC Scotland about his role in the battle against the deadly outbreak.

"Come forward those patients with measles," shouts the medical assistant in Lirangwe Health Central, close to the city of Blantyre.

There is a near stampede as 25 mothers with babies on their backs push to the front of the crowd.

All of the babies are feverish, with runny noses, red eyes, and a telltale rash over their bodies - visible proof of the largest measles epidemic to hit Malawi in more than a decade.

This particular health centre has been seeing more than 100 cases of measles every week, and the outbreak has led to more than 9,000 cases across Malawi so far...

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Malawi: 2010 Measles outbreaks

Source: http://www.africanews.com/site/Measles_kills_70_in_Malawi/list_messages/32831

Measles kills 70 in Malawi
Posted on Saturday 19 June 2010 - 10:00
Mabvuto Kambuwe, AfricaNews reporter in lilongwe,Malawi

The measles outbreak which hit most parts of Malawi has already claimed 70 lives in four months, health officials have confirmed. The situation has forced government to carry out a mass measles vaccination campaign for all children between the ages of 6 months and 15 years throughout the country.

Initially the national wide vaccine campaign was supposed to start this July targeting six million children.

Principal Secretary in the ministry of health Chris Kang?ombe disclosed that the number of reported cases had reached over 12000 nationwide.

?There are over 12,000 cases reported so far with 70 deaths ?Kang?ombe said.

A statement from the Lilongwe district office indicated that the district has recorded 10 deaths and 2572 cases as of June 6, 2010 from the month of February.

But in an interview in Lilongwe district medical officer Dr Taya Banda said the district had of Thursday recoded 10 more confirmed cases.

Another district which has been hit most by the outbreak, Balaka southern part of Malawi has already recoded 11 deaths with 1, 162 confirmed cases reported.

However health experts say the increase in number of deaths is as a result of resistance from apostolic faith who refuse medical attention.

Measles outbreak which has hit Malawi has also been reported in countries like Zimbabwe, Tanzania and other southern African countries.

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Malawi: 2010 Measles outbreaks

<TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD vAlign=top>(Comments)

<TABLE class=artinfo_block width="100%"><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD vAlign=center>
Written by Pilirani Phiri Monday, 12 July 2010 10:59
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=contentheading width="100%">Better Dead than Hospitalized… </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top><!-- JoomlaWorks "Disqus Comment System for Joomla!" Plugin (v2.2) starts here --><!-- Disqus comments counter and anchor link -->

A current measles outbreak in Malawi has ignited a number of challenges.

Other than government failure to raise adequate funds to procure vaccine to help contain the outbreak disease, religion too has come in as another mind boggling challenge. For zodiak online, Pilirani Phiri has the details.

It is just about eight in the morning and we are at a rural health centre in Malawi. A nurse sits leg crossed on a chair with all the manners of a virgin bride. She is waiting for her first clients of the day.

Her clients include patients with measles. A disease that has hit this impoverished African nation where half the people live in gut-wrenching poverty. An average family of five here lives on less than a dollar a day.

To the surprise of the nurse and the entire clinic staff, their clients today are under the escort of gun-totting police officers. Just what has gone amiss?

These are members of the New Apostolic Church and Akapolo Amulungu (Slaves of God) church. They have not been spared by the measles outbreak. However, their faith objects to seeking medical help when one falls sick.

And because government must be seen to be protecting all her citizens, an order has been issued to ensure that everyone with measles, irrespective of their religious faith, has been vaccinated against this deadly disease.

This was but a new challenge to the fight against the disease considering that vaccination campaigns had to be done sporadically because the government could not raise the funds at one go.

“Our beliefs prevent us from seeking medical intention. I am ready to watch my children die than take them to hospital. If government takes them to hospital I will disown them, ” said Fostino Tito of Mchinji district in central Malawi.

It was these words that saw Fostino being arrested by the police while health authorities took his children for vaccination against measles.
In another central region district of Malawi, Kasungu, thirteen people died of measles within two weeks of the outbreak which begun in January 2010.

District Assistant Environmental Health Officer Joseph Chitsime pushed the blame on members of the Akapolo Amulungu church sect because three quarters of those who died were members of this faith congregation.

Earlier the district sought the intervention of the courts to expel members of the church from the district, accusing them of practicing radical life styles.

Apart from denying their faithful to access medical help, church members are also prevented from paying tax, sending children to school, and using telephones or cell phones.

Meanwhile, as a crack down on these religious groups intensified, the Malawi government realized that apart from struggling to raise thousands of dollars to combat the raging outbreak, another challenge was the interpretation of religious literature especially the bible.
Malawi health officials authorized the use of force to have all members of these churches have their children vaccinated at gun point.

“We cannot afford to lose scores of lives of children just because some overzealous religious organizations are misinterpreting the bible. Force has to be used to stop this madness,” they said.

This was the beginning of involvement of the police in vaccination campaigns to make sure that every child gets immunized regardless of their parents’ religious beliefs.

In many health centers the presence of armed camouflaged police officers was a common sight to make sure that every child got vaccinated otherwise the measles battle would not have been won ‘peacefully.

Well, now that Malawi has struggled to contain the outbreak – it is a fact that hundreds of children that succumbed to the disease could have survived had it not been for some radical churches that teach their followers to be prepared to bury their children than to take them to hospital.

Obviously, the police were never going to use their firearms on problem guardians or parents. Their giving in, therefore, exposed yet another problem

http://www.zodiakmalawi.com/index.p...utbreak-in-malawi&catid=37:features&Itemid=53



</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Malawi: 2010 Measles outbreaks

Measles deaths: Mutharika blames churches

Posted on Friday 16 July 2010 - 13:00

Mtheto Lungu, AfricaNews reporter in Lilongwe, Malawi


Malawi president Bingu wa Mutharika, has accused some faith groups for causing deaths of its faithful. A measles outbreak has killed 82 people and attacked about 17,496 between January and June 20 this year.

Some churches in the country bar their followers from assessing medication.

Mutharika asked the churches, including the Seventh Day Adventist Church which has seen a number of its followers die, to stop their negative religious doctrine.

"Do not allow children to die because of failure to vaccinate them. You are breaking the law. Let us be rational when we practice our religious beliefs. There is nowhere in the Bible where seeking medication is prohibited," he said.

"Do not kill children in the name of religion. Parents should respect childrens rights. Children must not suffer because of parents," he added.

Advisor to the state president on religious affairs, Reverend Billy Gama, two months ago said government would consider holding sensitisation workshops for religious sects who believe medication is not welcome when sick.

Some religious leaders and believers have since been arrested and successfully charged for refusing their families from getting medication and vaccination from hospitals.



http://www.africanews.com/site/Measles_deaths_Mutharika_blames_churches/list_messages/33524

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Malawi: 2010 Measles outbreaks

<TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD class=contentheading width="100%">Written by Noel Mkubwi Wednesday, 21 July 2010 10:42

Measles Claim 19


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top><!-- JoomlaWorks "Disqus Comment System for Joomla!" Plugin (v2.2) starts here --><!-- Disqus comments counter and anchor link -->
Nineteen people have died of measles while over 2,400 others have suffered from the disease since its outbreak in Kasungu district alone.

Meanwhile, the District Health Office is preparing to conduct a mass immunization campaign scheduled for August 9 to 13.

Kasungu district started recording measles disease in March this year.

Statistics show that 19 people have died of the outbreak while over 2,500 others have suffered from the epidemic to date.

Briefing the district task force, Kasungu district Maternal and Child health coordinator Mr. Wells Kazonde said the district health office plans to conduct a mass measles immunization campaign across the district.

He said the campaign which is expected to run from August 9 to 13 targets to vaccinate over 301,000 children with measles vaccine in the district.

The children are those within the age range of nine months to fifteen years.

The campaign is part of the national response to the measles outbreak currently affecting different parts of Malawi.

Mr. Kazonde said over 350 static outreach and temporary sites are expected to administer the vaccination in Kasungu district.

Meanwhile some non-governmental organizations such as World Vision Malawi, Medicine Sans Frontiers and the Malawi Red Cross society have pledged to help see the campaign conducted successfully.


http://www.zodiakmalawi.com/index.p...cle&id=626:measles-claim-19&catid=34:news-top





</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Malawi: 2010 Measles outbreaks

Measles kills 166 in Malawi

2010-07-21 21:48

Blantyre - An outbreak of measles has killed 166 people in Malawi since January, a senior health official told AFP on Wednesday, calling it the worst outbreak in a decade.

"Our records show this is the highest number of people to have died from the disease in the past 10 years," said Storn Kabuluzi, the government's director of preventive health.

He said 52 000 people had caught measles over the past six months in the nation of 13 million.

Kabuluzi said a new consignment of measles vaccines had been received and the government would launch a $4.2m nationwide immunisation campaign soon.

"We are targeting six million children aged six months to 15 years for the mass immunisation," he said.

Neighbouring Zambia is also experiencing its worst measles outbreak in years, with 88 killed over two months, mainly around the capital Lusaka.


- SAPA

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Measles-kills-166-in-Malawi-20100721

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Malawi: 2010 Measles outbreaks

Source: http://af.reuters.com/article/zimbabweNews/idAFLDE67E0AM20100815?sp=true

Measles kills 197 people in Malawi since January
Sun Aug 15, 2010 4:39pm GMT

* Gov't launches measles vaccination campaign

* WHO says measles killed more than 1,100 Africans in 2009

LILONGWE Aug 15 (Reuters) - A measles outbreak has killed 197 people in Malawi since the start of this year, the highest number recorded in the country in the last decade, a senior health ministry official said on Sunday.

A total 54 people died during the last outbreak of the viral disease in the southern African country in 2000...

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Malawi: 2010 Measles outbreaks

Source: http://www.africanews.com/site/Malawi_opens_8500_measles_centres/list_messages/34132

Malawi opens 8,500 measles centres
Posted on Tuesday 17 August 2010 - 15:00
Mtheto Lungu, AfricaNews reporter in Lilongwe, Malawi

Malawi established more than 8,500 centres across the country to carry out measles vaccination. The country was hit by a measles outbreak that killed hundreds. Minister of Health, Professor David Mphande said this year's mass immunisation campaign aims at vaccinating children missed out at birth. The campaign is taking place a year earlier due to an early outbreak.

Mphande told journalists in the capital city Lilongwe that the ministry had also put out mobile clinics to beef up vaccination in remote areas and as a compliment to the established health facilities...