Migori County Health department to conduct a ten-day Measles/Rubella campaign to curb the the threatening Rubella infection among children below five years of age.
This was a conclusion made after the county was mentioned among the 22 Counties at risk of this contagious disease among children.
While speaking after Public Health Officers meeting at Annex Heritage in Migori, the County Chief Public Health Officer Madam Pauline stated that Rubella are ranked in the third position as the main death causing diseases among children.
“For a very long time Rubella were the leading killer diseases among children under the age of five years in Migori County.
Today it is the number three killer disease for children under five. It is in this regard that Migori has been picked among the 23 counties by the government to benefit from the Measles-Rubella vaccine that will be administered to the children from the age of 9-12 months.
This campaign is starting from June 26,to cover a period of ten days,” Pauline said.
The officer stated that in Kenya Rubella has been picked to be on the rise and has adverse side effects where a lady diagnosed with Rubella may end up having deformed children in the future and therefore there is need for the county to safeguard its population from some of the diseases which have negative side effects like death.
So also called upon parents whether their children had been immunized in the past or not to use this opportunity to boost the immunity of their children by having them receiving this dose of measles and rubella vaccine. The vaccination will be administered in most of the health facilities and a few selected posts across the county.
“Unlike in the past where we had door to door vaccination campaign this time round we will be having fixed post therefore we are calling upon the general public to support us in in mobilizing children especially in the villages and urban centers to be able to reach our immunization centers across the county.
The campaign will be running from Saturday June 26,2021 until July 5,2021, covering a total of ten days. In Migori county we have approximately one hundred and fifty-five thousand children and we are targeting to cover the entire population in this exercise.
We are calling upon our public especially the bodaboda riders, our learning institutions to support us on this to make sure we reach out as many people as possible and make sure that we eradicate measles and Rubella from Migori county in the coming years,” she added.
According the County Public Health Promoter Mr James Oguk, Rubella is the worst since it can either lead to death or disability among children is not controlled.
“Rubella can also be controlled through vaccination but it is worst because it can lead to disability or even death but they are some of the diseases that our citizens take lightly. We are also aware that that there is Covid-19 and when these diseases compile in the system they will lead to more complications among children,”Oguk said.
Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild with half of people not realizing that they are infected.
A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and last for three days. It usually starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body. The rash is sometimes itchy and is not as bright as that of measles. Swollen lymph nodes are common and may last a few weeks.
A fever, sore throat, and fatigue may also occur. Joint pain is common in adults. Complications may include bleeding problems, testicular swelling, encephalitis, and inflammation of nerves.
Infection during early pregnancy may result in a miscarriage or a child born with congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). Symptoms of CRS manifest as problems with the eyes such as cataracts, deafness, as well as affecting the heart and brain. Problems are rare after the 20th week of pregnancy.
Rubella is usually spread from one person to the next through the air via coughs of people who are infected. People are infectious during the week before and after the appearance of the rash. Babies with CRS may spread the virus for more than a year.
Only humans are infected. Insects do not spread the disease. Once recovered, people are immune to future infections. Testing is available that can verify immunity. Diagnosis is confirmed by finding the virus in the blood, throat, or urine.Testing the blood for antibodies may also be useful.
Rubella is preventable with the rubella vaccine with a single dose being more than 95% effective.Often it is given in combination with the measles vaccine and mumps vaccine, known as the MMR vaccine.
When some, but less than 80% of a population is vaccinated, more women may reach childbearing age without developing immunity by infection or vaccination, thus possibly raising CRS rates.Once infected there is no specific treatment.