'The epidemic curve is still on the increase, especially in the inaccessible areas'
Zithulele Hospital's principal medical officer, Dr Karl le Roux, said the latest victim was a young pregnant woman who died at the Mthatha Academic Hospital on Wednesday.
He said two of the victims died ofpneumonic measles strains, and the third was killed by encephalitis measles.
He described measles as a highly infectious disease best dealt with by prevention, rather than managing it after an outbreak, "as it spreads like wildfire".
At Zithulele Hospital, 243 people have been admitted with measles symptoms since November.
Nosisa Pitoli arrived at the hospital with her 11-year-old son, Mthetheleli, a day after his birthday. The child developed a rash and a "runny tummy".
After rushing the boy to a clinic, she was referred to Zithulele Hospital, 25km away.
At that stage she said Mthetheleli was so dehydrated that he couldn't open his eyes.
"I was told that my son had measles. His running stomach and rash were clear signs of measles and he would have to be hospitalised," said Pitoli.
Eastern Cape Health Department spokesman Sizwe Kupelo confirmed the outbreak and described the situation in the King Sabtha Dalindyebo municipal area, which includes Mthatha and Mqanduli, as having reached "the epidemic curve and is still on the increase, especially in the inaccessible, hard-to-reach areas such as Ngcwanguba".
A National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) report revealed that the crisis had spread to other provinces in the past few weeks, and of the 6685 specimens sent to laboratories nationwide, 420 had tested positive for measles.
The Eastern Cape is considered one of the worst-hit provinces, as 108 of the 420 cases were from the province.
Dr Lucille Blumberg of the NICD said that the country was experiencing a measles outbreak and that some provinces were harder hit than others.
She said failure to vaccinate was the main cause.
At least two wards of the 120-bed Zithulele Hospital have been set aside to treat measles.
During a Sunday Times visit, the ward had four babies aged between two and eight months.
A two-year-old Twalinkulu village boy is suspected to have been the source of the outbreak in the Eastern Cape, after returning from Johannesburg a week before Christmas with positive signs of the illness.
"We thought all would be over in January, when holidays are over. Instead, things are getting worse ," said a healthcare worker at the hospital.
The report identified the first fatality as Aron Volibi, 20, of Qhogi village in Mqanduli. He was admitted to the hospital on December 29 and died on January 31.
The Department of Health has confirmed the death of a second case, a 22-year-old Fetshu villager, on January 3.
A report by the Eastern Cape Health Department attributes the fatalities to shortages of medical supplies such as needles, vaccines and syringes.
Zithulele Hospital, which admitted more than 70% of the affected cases in the province, complained of having no space to accommodate critical cases, which have to be isolated.
There is also no transport to transfer patients to better-equipped health facilities.
"We admitted 13 cases on Tuesday and 14 on Wednesday. The department has provided us with supplies, unlike at the beginning of the year, but because the outbreak is out of control already, it's hard to put up walls for it not to spread," said a Zithulele nurse.
"Our fear is that some of the local pupils have gone to areas such as East London and Port Elizabeth. I won't be surprised when the outbreak spreads to other areas."
Kupelo said the department was notified of the outbreak only on January 8, after which they sent teams to try to manage the situation, but owing to budget constraints, they were battling to contain the outbreak.
Mandla Sidu, a spokesman for the Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development, said: "We had an outbreak last year, after which we undertook a massive immunisation campaign. This is why we have contained the disease in Gauteng."
Western Cape minister of health Theuns Botha said they are handling the situation as an outbreak, not an epidemic.
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