By Akani Nkuna
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases points to a substantial number of unimmunised children as the reason behind the spike in rubella cases in 2024, highlighting the need for improved vaccination rates and infection control measures.
“The reason for the large number of cases this year, compared with previous years, is because many children entered 2024 without prior exposure to rubella, or without being vaccinated against rubella,” said NICD in a statement.
A nationwide surge in rubella (German measles) cases has been reported, with over 8,700 confirmed cases by week 40. Notably, the majority of cases (98%) affected children under 15, with a significant concentration in the 5-9 age bracket, accounting for the largest proportion of infections.
The 2024 outbreak has surpassed the total number of cases reported since 2015, with a notable increase in samples testing positive. However, testing has been hindered by delays in procuring testing kits, resulting in a backlog of approximately 6000 untested samples, including those from late September 2024 onwards.
“Whilst a seasonal increase in rubella cases is expected every year, usually occurring from September to December each year, the number of cases is much larger in 2024 compared with previous years,” the NICD said.
“Immunity to rubella infection or rubella vaccination is lifelong. If children are not vaccinated against rubella, and never come into contact with rubella virus through natural infection, children will remain susceptible to rubella.”
Furthermore, the NICD outlined that historically, rubella vaccination was not part of South Africa’s routine Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) schedule until 2024.
However, the Health Department was now introducing the combined measles-rubella-containing vaccine (MRCV) to combat the spread of rubella. This new vaccine will be administered to children at 6 and 12 months old, but its rollout is pending the depletion of existing measles-containing vaccine (MCV) stocks in each province.
“The non-pharmaceutical interventions that were applied during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic interrupted transmission of rubella, and for the period 2020-2022 there were almost no rubella cases identified from the NDoH/NICD fever-rash surveillance…,” it said.
Rubella is a self-limiting infection that presents with fever and a maculo-papular rash, myalgia, enlarged lymph nodes, headache and conjunctivitis
INSIDE POLITICS
