The measles outbreak in the Solomon Islands has skyrocketed to more than 2,300 cases after a surge of 829 cases last week, according to a Solomon Star report today.
This clearly follows a story two weeks ago when the Health Ministry said the real number could be in the thousands, as opposed to reports that say the measles cases are slowly decreasing.
“In fact, cases of measles are increasing and spreading throughout the provinces,” Dr Aaron Oritaimae, Incident Controller of the Ministry of Health’s Emergency Operations Centre, said.
“The Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) can confirm that over 2300 cases of measles have been reported since the outbreak began in July this year.
“Over 829 cases of measles were reported in the last week alone, and it is likely that there are many more cases which have not been reported.”
Measles or rubeola, is an acute highly communicable viral disease that is characterized by Koplik spots in the cheek or tongue very early in the disease. A couple of days later a red blotchy rash appears first on the face, and then spreads, lasting 4-7 days. Other symptoms include fever, cough and red watery eyes. The patient may be contagious from four days prior to the rash appearance to four days after rash appearance.
The disease is more severe in infants and adults. Complications from measles which is reported in up to 20% of people infected include; seizures, pneumonia, deafness and encephalitis. For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page
