BHB publishes guide to help identify when medical care is needed for measles

Monday 25 November 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board today issued a patient self-assessment guide to help patients and carers identify when medical advice and hospital care is needed for patients with suspected or confirmed  measles infections. Click here for the guide.

Chief of Emergency & Hyperbaric Services Dr Chikezie Dean Okereke comments: “While most patients can get through a measles infection by staying hydrated and taking fever medication, such as Tylenol and Ibuprofen, the complications of measles can be extremely serious and people need to know when medical advice or hospital treatment is needed.

“In recent US outbreaks, 20% (one in five) of unvaccinated people who had measles were hospitalised. It is an extremely infectious disease. You can catch measles by walking into a room that someone infected with measles left two hours before.”

The Measles Patient Symptom Self-Assessment Guide has been designed to help people decide when they should stay at home, and when they need to call for medical advice or emergency treatment.

Dr Okereke stated how it important it was that even when emergency medical care is needed, no one with measles or suspected measles should just turn up at the Emergency Department. Patients or carers should call in advance so the Emergency Department can safely attend to the patient in need without putting other people at risk.

“We also want to remind people that prevention is the best form of protection. History is full of stories of measles tragedies that vaccination for the most part has eradicated. We need to do all we can to stop it re-emerging as a threat to our children and families.

“On the back of the positive measles cases in Bermuda, we are encouraging masking in hospital waiting areas, and in the Emergency Department it is now a requirement.

“Vaccination remains best and safest way to safeguard against measles and its complications. It is extremely effective (97%) and according to the World Health Organization, has saved about 60 million lives since 2000. The vaccine is readily available here in Bermuda from your GP, paediatrician and the Government clinic (278-6460). It requires two jabs one month apart for the highest level of protection, but even after the first jab your protection from this disease will be vastly improved.”

 

Archives

2024 (44)
2023 (30)
2022 (58)
2021 (67)
2020 (66)
2019 (45)
2018 (35)
2017 (40)
2016 (47)
2015 (22)
2014 (45)
2013 (36)
2012 (37)
2011 (43)
2010 (44)
2009 (56)
2008 (31)
2007 (32)
2006 (39)
2005 (27)
2004 (23)

Notes to Editors
The Bermuda Hospitals Board is a quango (quasi autonomous non-governmental organisation) established under the Bermuda Hospitals Board Act, 1970. It has a Bermuda Government-approved Board and a Chief Executive Officer, responsible for King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute. At the heart of both organisations is high-quality care to all patients.

With approximately 1,700 employees, the Bermuda Hospitals Board is Bermuda's second largest employer. King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute are the only healthcare organisations in Bermuda accredited by Accreditation Canada, an independent organisation whose role is to help hospitals examine and improve the quality of care and service they provide to their clients. In addition to providing an extensive list of services for the community, the Bermuda Hospitals Board is part of a referral network that includes some of the world's leading specialist hospitals.

For more information, please visit www.bermudahospitals.bm or contact the Bermuda Hospitals Board Public Relations Department at publicrelations@bhb.bm.