He has never before felt as sick as he does now. The rash on his skin hurts as if it were sunburn and the hospital sheets brushing against it feel like sandpaper. Walking is a struggle - it feels as if there are hundreds of blisters on the soles of his feet.
After six days in the intensive-care unit of a private Sandton hospital former Survivor South Africa finalist GARETH TJASINK finally feels able to talk about his measles nightmare.
Gareth is one of 1 886 people in Gauteng alone who since March have been laid low by a measles epidemic that has spread like wildfire through the province. Although the average age of victims is 13 he’s among the many adults who have contracted what is typically a childhood disease.
The Gauteng health department is so concerned about the epidemic caused by the measles virus, which infects people through saliva and nasal mucus, that it has launched an intensive campaign to inoculate more than two million people.
Adults’ condition can be more severe than children’s because the inoculation they received as kids has weakened, says Dr Karin de Witt, a general practitioner in Pretoria.
Not all measles patients are as lucky as Gareth. When Yasmien Moosa (24) of Centurion contracted measles it developed into an indescribable tragedy.
Her unborn baby was affected and about a month ago, when she was six weeks pregnant, she had a miscarriage. Then five days later her 13-month-old daughter, Taskeen, died of German measles.
Measles is particularly dangerous to pregnant women - not only because of the risk it poses to the unborn baby but there’s a bigger chance of complications such as lung infections, Pretoria virologist Dr Allison Glass explains. Other potential complications are meningitis and an ear infection that can lead to deafness.
Measles is often misdiagnosed at first, Dr de Witt says. “But then patient’s eyes become sensitive to light, as if they have an eye infection, and after that they get a rash on their bodies. At the same time small white spots appear in the mouth and inside the cheeks. This is the only symptom that differentiates it from German measles.”
If there are no further complications the rash lasts about five days, after which the patient recovers.
Certain people shouldn’t be inoculated: those with HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, respiratory tract infections and those who are allergic to chicken protein.
