Mataeliga Pio Sioa
Anxious mothers heading into the TTM outpatient ward for checkups
Officially our holiday season is in tatters. We are on lock down mode with the official state of emergency declared on our measles epidemic on Friday night.
Yesterday the legal orders came down, serious and firm.
Since the outbreak became official the health advisory was for the general public not to congregate in groups.
When the call came about 5 weeks ago only 70 cases were suspected. We are now past 700 or 10 times what we started off with.
We have 6 officially confirmed cases of death so far. The fatality are all children except for one 37 year old adult male.
The most alarming worry, going forward with our emergency scramble to rein in the outbreak, is of about 70 thousand Samoans or roughly a third of our population who have not been immunized.
Simply no medical protection whatsoever from the measles carrying virus. Maybe that helps to explain why this very infections disease has fanned out so quickly.
So now we have a state of emergency in place. Cannot remember back to when such a state was declared on a disease outbreak.
We did went under crisis mode from the devastations left behind by some of the cyclones.
Part of the worry at the time was the high risk of a contagious disease outbreak from the cyclone damages like contaminated drinking water.
Measles is contagious and we are caught up in it in a bad way.
Our health officials have no way of knowing if and when the epidemic peaks. Our last epidemic update #6 shows that the numbers are still climbing…fast.
The legal orders that are now enforced in keeping with our state of emergency is going to be hugely disruptive.
The schools are the ones to feel it the most. The order is to shut down immediately and that means all the major secondary schools exams that have not yet been sat are suspended.
Even the National University of Samoa are to close its doors and whatever end of semester exams coming up will have to wait.
It is going to be complicated but lets do ourselves a favour and not get all tangled up in what happens next.
Director General of Health, Leausa Dr. Take Naseri, is holding steady against the anticipated rush of the unvaccinated for MMR injections.
He is our ‘go to’ man with this epidemic and it is good to see him stay largely unruffled by mounting pressure from the panicky public.
What will be interesting to watch is how the 17 year olds and under are going to be kept away from any public gathering or getting together in groups.
Hospital security will be on the lookout for 18 year olds and under who wander into the compound and risk picking up the measles virus.
The police will be called in to help out if and when needed. From the outset it does look better organised.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has cancelled its Sunday services today and quite frankly that took a while to register. How would the other denominations react?
Does it matter? Not to the LDS. They are concerned for the health of the members of the faith and if they believe they are good with God on that, who is to stop them.
But it does brought up a difficult point to ponder. If 17 year olds and under are not allowed in a public gathering, church is going to be included in there.
How about movie theatres? With the kids out of school this is one of their main hangouts.
There are other awkward locations that will make for interesting observations like the popular children’s Malae Fatu Park.
The children are the main groups being targeted and that is easy enough to accept.
Of the total reported cases from the last epidemic update report, close to 60 per cent are children from 4 years and under.
These are the innocent lives that are stake and we as responsible adults should be ready to accept that.
Further analysis of the orders under the state of emergency all seems to be slanted more towards the young. As responsible parents that should not be hard to accept.
The coming weeks and even beyond to the New Year are going to be a challenge.
The epidemic has struck at a difficult time. Indeed it has but as a nation we will just have to suck it up for our own sake.