Number of measles cases triples from last year

SINGAPORE — There has been a big jump in the number of measles cases reported here so far this year — nearly triple that in the same period last year — said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday (May 26), as it urged parents to get their children vaccinated.

As of Monday, there have been 50 measles cases reported, compared with 17 last year. Among these, 34 local cases involved children, among which 14 were between the ages of one and six who had missed their measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination.

Three were one-year-old children, which means they had received only one dose of the MMR vaccination, while the remaining 17 were infants who are less than a year old and were not due for their jabs yet.

Measles causes symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat and rashes.

It is a highly infectious disease that can be spread through air droplets and direct contact with nasal and throat secretions.

A patient could be infectious even before showing symptoms.

In Singapore, measles vaccination for children is compulsory and the first dose of the MMR vaccination should be given when a child is one-year-old, followed by a second dose when the child is between 15 and 18 months.

In its press release on Thursday, the MOH advised that pre-school children who have missed one or both doses of the measles vaccination to do so as soon as possible.

Family members or other caregivers who have not been vaccinated, or who have not gotten the full two doses against the disease should also get vaccinated, the ministry added.

The MMR vaccination is available at polyclinics, private general practitioner clinics and private paediatric clinics. It is fully subsidised for Singapore citizens at polyclinics and Medisave can also be used at private general practitioner and private paediatric clinics.

“Vaccination is the best preventive measure against measles,” MOH said. “MOH reminds parents that it is important to ensure that their young children receive two doses of the MMR vaccination on time.”