Transcript
Since an outbreak was declared in October, measles in Samoa has spread like wildfire.
In just two weeks, the death toll has risen from six to 39. Most of the dead are children under the age of four, including the six who have passed away in the past 24 hours.
Samoa's Director General of Health, Leausa Dr Take Naseri, says not enough children are being vaccinated.
"We are still not satisfied with the coverage of the six months to the four years. We still haven't crossed 40 percent of that age group. The other age groups are doing steadily but we are still worried that most of the kids are not coming forward or not being brought by their parents."
A mass vaccination campaign is underway in Samoa, with dozens of doctors and nurses from New Zealand and Australia assisting.
In just under two weeks, Samoa has managed to immunise nearly 45,000 people.
But at a press conference on Wednesday, Leausa said when children are brought in, their condition is often too severe to save them.
"The average is about five to six days since the onset of the symptoms and signs. So, they [are] really presented late to the hospital and associated complications are quite high and most have resulted in death."
As of this afternoon,190 people with the disease remain in hospital, including 25 critically ill children and pregnant women.
And Leausa Dr Take Naseri says the epidemic hasn't yet reached its peak.
Meanwhile, 28 inmates sick with measles at Samoa's largest prison are in indefinite isolation.
The Acting Commissioner of Prisons, Levaopolo Rosa Siaosi, says all prisoners at Tanumalala have now been vaccinated and family visits have been banned.
She says the sick inmates are recovering well.
"Just for precautionary measures, we're just trying to put them still in isolation block until they're fully cleared. I know that the Ministry of Health is quite busy at the moment with all the cases so I think we will just isolate them for now."
The streets of Samoa were quiet today, as the nation grappled with the growing death toll.
A Red Cross health delegate who arrived in the capital Apia on Sunday, Karen Page, gives a grim outlook.
"I suspect it will get worse before it gets better. But yeah, everything is shuttered down here in some ways. Schools have been closed. children, young people can't go to public gatherings. The big swimming pool in Apia is closed."
Karen Page says it could take weeks before gains from the current immunisation campaign kick in.
Samoa is currently only vaccinating children up to the age of 19 and and women aged between 20 and 35.
This is Mackenzie Smith.
