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Measles cases in Samoa more than double over past week as death toll rises - National
The number of suspected cases of measles on the Pacific island of Samoa has more than doubled over the past week to 3,530 and deaths related to the outbreak rose to 48 from 20 a week ago, the country’s Ministry of Health said on Sunday.
Samoa has become vulnerable to measles outbreaks as the number of people becoming immunized has declined with the World Health Organisation (WHO) saying vaccine coverage is just about 31 per cent.
[...] The government started a mandatory vaccination program on Nov. 20 after declaring a state of emergency due to the outbreak. The health ministry said in its statement that 57,132 people have since been vaccinated.
Schools and universities have been closed and most public gatherings banned on the island state of just 200,000, located south of the equator and half way between Hawaii and New Zealand.
Of the 48 deaths, 44 where among children under the age of four. Since Saturday, there have been 173 new cases of measles recorded and four people have died.
Neighboring New Zealand and a number of other countries and organizations, including the U.N. agency UNICEF, have delivered thousands of vaccines, medical supplies and have sent medical personnel to help with the outbreak.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday December 03 2019, @02:52PM (1 child)
It's a very very rare case, but you could die in an automobile accident. Therefore we should eliminate automobiles.
It's a very very rare case, but some people die as a result of natural gas. Therefore we should eliminate natural gas as an inexpensive convenient efficient source of energy.
It's a very very rare case, but space satellites could come crashing down on your head. We must eliminate all satellites.
Young people won't believe you if you say you used to get Netflix by US Postal Mail.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 04 2019, @02:53AM
That last one reminded me of one of my favorite shows [wikipedia.org]. Gotta watch out for the toilet seats.