As measles reared its ugly head, seven children from a Honde Valley family recently succumbed to the highly contagious disease within a space of two weeks.
The seven children were aged between three and 11.
The Rode family’s remaining eight children were only spared
after their parents took the bold decision to quit their white garment church
and seek medical services for them.
Religious beliefs that discourage seeking medical services
have been identified as the major cause of the current measles outbreak and the
resulting deaths.
Mr Tendai Rode of Nyamaende in Honde Valley is still
struggling to come to terms with the sad loss of his children.
He said the children’s funerals drained the family
emotionally and financially.
In an interview with Zimpapers’ Television Network (ZTN),
Mr Rode said it was painful to bury his children one after the other within
such a short space of time.
“I am married to three wives and I was blessed with 15
children. All my children got infected with measles. This happened within a
week and on day eight, some of the children who had developed a skin rash
started coughing.
“The following day, the first child, aged three, died in
the morning. The other one, aged four, died in the afternoon. We buried them
the following morning.
“The other child, aged five, succumbed to the same disease
two days later. Barely a day later, the other girl who was doing Grade Two also
died.
“The other child died the next day. We were all traumatised
because five children had succumbed to the disease within a week,” said Mr
Rode.
He said reality finally dawned on him that the whole family
would be wiped out if he didn’t seek medical attention for his children.
Mr Rode and his wives threw their church doctrine aside and
rushed to a medical facility with the other bedridden children.
“Watching my children dying one after the other made me
think twice about my religious beliefs. I saw it prudent to quit my church and
seek medical attention for my children at the local health institution.
“However, my 11-year-old boy who was being attended to at
the clinic failed to make it. He died that very evening. The other one died
three days later.
“So five of my children died before we could seek medical
attention for them, while the other two died after our visit to the clinic. All
the children were not vaccinated as this was against our religious beliefs,”
said Mr Rode.
He added: “However, the measles tests done on my children
were not conclusive. The skin rash had disappeared, but their coughing
persisted. This disease cost me dearly and I have nowhere to start. All our
resources were drained during the seven funerals.”
As of last week, Manicaland had recorded 3 010 cases and
347 deaths, mostly in Mutasa District.
Of those cases, 507 were vaccinated, while 1 982 were
unvaccinated.
The status of 527 people was unknown.
About 1 574 children were treated and discharged, while 1
089 were still admitted in health facilities across the province.
In response to the measles outbreak, Government has
deployed adequate mobile teams to vaccinate children between the ages of six months
and 15 years.
Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that spreads
from person to person via airborne transmission, including breathing, coughing
and sneezing.
Among other symptoms, infected persons develop a skin rash,
high fever, cough, runny rose, irritated red and watery eyes.
The disease can lead to serious health complications like
pneumonia and even death.
Although highly preventable through vaccination, the
emergence of Covid-19 shifted attention from standard healthcare, leading to the
disruption of routine immunisation plans and campaigns for infectious diseases,
resulting in the current post-pandemic measles catastrophe, which now requires
urgent intervention to counter and reverse. Manica Post
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