11 Dec 2019

Samoa measles death toll remains at 70

10:54 am on 11 December 2019

The death toll from Samoa's measles outbreak remains at 70 after no new fatalities were recorded over the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says.

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Photo: RNZ / Logan Church

It's the first day in two weeks that no new deaths have been reported by the ministry.

Eighty-seven new cases of measles were recorded over the last 24 hours by the ministry's Disease Surveillance Team, taking the total number to 4819 since the outbreak started.

There are currently 169 measles cases who are in-patients at health facilities. Admissions include 21 critically ill children and two pregnant women.

To date, the total number of measles cases admitted to hospital during the outbreak is 1510. Of those, 1271 patients have been discharged.

The ministry said as of 9 December, approximately 91 percent of all eligible people in Samoa had been vaccinated against measles.

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