Issued by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases based on laboratory testing data
Highlights
Measles Surveillance
- A total of 1317 laboratory-confirmed measles cases were reported between epidemiological week 40 2022 to week 47 2023 in South Africa. Limpopo had reported the most number of cases (532), followed by Gauteng (256) and then North West (226).
- Eastern Cape and Northern Cape Provinces reported the lowest number of confirmed measles cases with 10 and 20 cases, respectively. KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Free State have reported 65, 121, and 39 cases, respectively.
- In November 2023, a total of 50 measles cases were reported from all provinces except Eastern Cape. Most of the cases were from the Western Cape (18) KwaZulu-Natal (10), Gauteng (8), and Northern Cape(7).
Rubella Surveillance
- Rubella serology testing is conducted at several NHLS laboratories and the NICD. Rubella testing at the NICD is conducted as part of fever-rash surveillance on samples from patients who meet the suspected measles/rubella case definition. Data that are presented here are from these public laboratories.
- A total of 656 laboratory-confirmed rubella cases have been reported in South Africa from week 1 to week 48 2023. The majority (465) of the cases were reported in the Western Cape. Northern Cape reported 120 rubella cases, while the Eastern Cape province reported 36 cases. Sporadic cases were reported in all the other provinces.
- For November, 387 cases of rubella cases were reported. Western Cape remains the province reporting more (258) cases, followed by the Northern Cape (118) and then the Eastern Cape (10). One sporadic case was reported in Gauteng.
- Since week 36, a total of 603 cases have been reported, mainly from the Western Cape (452). Fourteen cases were reported in the City of Cape Town in the Khayelitsha sub-district. Most of the cases reported in Khayelitsha were among children between 5-9 years.
- The most affected age group is children between the ages of 5-9 years old (352), followed by the 1-4 years old (211).
