By The Plu Team
An oubreak of measles is rapidly spreading in Wajir County sickening dozens of residents, most of them unvaccinated elderly men and women.
There have been more than 100 reported cases in the county, and health officials are monitoring one more suspected case involving a 25-years old female patient from Catholic village within Wajir town.
The last confirmed case was reported on December 31 2018, which puts the County into three months of relentless outbreak that is increasingly plaguing both urban and pastoral settlements.
The first case was reported from Danaba location, a pastoral village in the North when a seven-year old boy appeared with measles’ symptoms on September 9th 2018.
A number of residents from Wagberi location in an area called LMD told The Plu Media that the menace of measles have struck their neighbourhood consistently for the past few weeks.
“We have a number of our neighbours down with the disease. Most of the people who are affected are mothers” a resident who sought anonymity told The Plu Media.
Wajir County health officials have just announced the outbreak through the local media even as more and more people are affected within and outside the town.
Residents are calling for an urgent vaccination campaign to contain the disease that is highly contagious, asking the county government of Wajir to urgently intervene.
People can get sick when they come in contact with mucus or saliva from an infected person, and anyone who has not been vaccinated or has not had measles is at risk if they were exposed.
Symptoms of measles can include high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. It can cause serious complications such as pneumonia and encephalitis.
Measles infection in a pregnant woman can lead to miscarriage, premature birth or a low-birth-weight or deaf baby. Young children are the most likely to die from measles.
There are bad measles outbreaks across the world including some parts of the US and Europe where public health officials are conducting emergency vaccinations to stop the spread of the disease.
