A low number of 16 new measles cases occurred in the last week, according to a Tonga situation  report [2] issued on 2 January 2020. This brings the total number of confirmed or suspected measles cases to 612 since the outbreak began in October 2019 with around 96% estimated to have recovered.

The new cases include 13 on Tongatapu and 3 on Vava’u. Ten cases were males and six females aged between 6 months and 23-years-old.

This brings the total number of confirmed or suspected measles cases to 612 as at 31 December 2019, since the outbreak began in October 2019.

It is estimated however, that at least 96% of the 612 have already recovered from their illnesses as the duration of the illness is typically less than two weeks.

Cases have been reported to be mild with 18 hospital stations and no deaths. The majority of the cases have been managed by home isolation and all patients have been discharged.

The majority of cases, 534 (87.2%), have occurred on Tongatapu and 66 (10.7%) have occurred on Vava’u.

Most cases have been among males, with the proportion of cases among females increasing as the outbreak progressed.

A total of 96 cases occurred in children aged less than 5 years, while cases among adolescents and young people continue to form the majority of the cases in this outbreak, with 482 (79%) cases occurring in people aged 10 to 24 years.

Vaccination efforts

As at 31 December 2019, a total of around 27,691 people have been vaccinated.

The Ministry of Health are continuing vaccination efforts targeting priority groups who are at the greatest risk of measles infection, as well as those at greatest risk of severe illness. These include: