Skip to content

At least 20 children admitted to hospitals across Banadir for measles

Main entrance of Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Close to 20 children have been admitted in various hospitals in Banaadir region as a result of measles disease, medical sources indicate.

Speaking to Goobjoog News, Dr. Isse Adam Isse from Banaadir Hospital said the facility had noted an increase in the number of children admitted suffering from measles. We are recording up to three admissions daily, Dr. Isse said.

“You can see that the patients brought here with measles cases is increasing on daily basis from 2 to 3 patients with the disease. Since 20th to 26th November, we admitted 13 cases which is a huge increase. From the 30th to the end of the month, we have 7 cases” said Dr. Isse.

One of the women whose son was admitted at the hospital told Goobjoog News the his child was seriously ill when he was admitted but was now recovering.

“I brought him 6 days ago with severe sickness. Now he has recuperated and his eyes became clearly open and the rushes diminished.  Now he is playing around” said the relieved mother.

According to Dr. Isse, the spread of the disease was a result of transmission from people who have traveled from the countryside but had not received any immunisation. “Many displaced people have arrived in Mogadishu from the country side with no immunization causing a spread of the disease.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR said last over 5,000 people among them former IDPs were displaced due to sustained airstrikes and heightened ground military operations in Lower Shabelle region in a report released by the agency’s Protection & Return Monitoring Network (PRMN) which covers displacements in Middle and Lower Shabelle regions.

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory infection that is caused by a virus. It causes a total body skin rash and flu-like symptoms, including a fever, cough, and runny nose and affects mostly children.

Goobjoog News