Suva, Dec 4: As many as 60 people died due to measles epidemic in the island nation, a government statement on Wednesday.
“4,052 measles cases have been reported since the outbreak with 171 recorded in the last 24 hours. To date, 60 measles related deaths have been recorded,” the government tweeted.
The Ministry of Health said that eight of the dead were children aged under four. The country is in a state of emergency.
All schools were closed, a mass vaccination campaign underway and public gatherings in the nation were restricted.
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease that is normally transmitted through fluids in the respiratory system. It starts with cold-like symptoms like high fever and runny nose and gradually develops into a full-body rash, at which point the immune system is already too weakened to fight the infection.
The disease could effectively prevented by immunisation.
