Children under four most at risk

SAMOA – Children in Samoa between six months to four years of age remain the most vulnerable as Samoa’s measles emergency deepens.

Ministry of Health Director General, Leausa Dr Take Naseri, made reference to this age bracket and their vulnerability during a press conference on Wednesday.

He said health authorities remain concerned about this age group.

“The other groups are doing steadily but we are still worried that most of the kids in the six months to four years bracket are not coming forward, not being brought by their parents to this.”

Dr Naseri said the Health Ministry is gathering data to get an exact figure of those vaccinated and calculate an estimate of the current overall coverage.

He said most of the children who are being taken to the hospital with measles are being presented late to the health authorities.

“The average number is about five to six days since the onset of their illness and when they really present late to the hospital, the associated complications are quite high and most result in death,” he added.

A majority of the measles-related deaths are of children below the age of five with Leausa indicating that most of them were not immunised against measles.

-Samoa Observer