20,000 children receive measles vaccines in Twic East

June 15, 2017 (BOR)-At least 20,000 children had been vaccinated across the three counties in former Twic East of Jonglei state, despite previous reports of the vaccine being regarded as killer toxin to kids.

The commissioner of Twic Central county, Dau Akoi Jurkuch said the vaccination campaign was successful in the three counties making up the former Twic East county.

Early this month, it was 15 children reportedly died after receiving measles vaccine in South Sudan’s Kapoeta state.

“People had been worried that this year’s measle campaign could have problematic as seen in one of the states. Now we got an assurance that its went on successfully, there are no reports hindering the campaign, the children had been vaccinated”, Akoi told the Sudan Tribune at the end of the campaign this week.

Measles is a deadly and highly contagious disease caused by virus. The disease is characterized by fever, cough, rashes, and flu and runny nose. The approximate incubation period is up to 10 days from the day the person is exposed to the virus.

The campaign started on 5 June, and ran for seven days. The World Health Organization (WHO) sponsored the campaign, done in collaboration with the health ministry and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).

(ST)