"People are nervous, people are seeing the impact of this disease. Samoa is a very small country and everybody knows somebody who's been affected by this."

But the deaths were later established to have been due to the nurses mixing the vaccine with an expired muscle relaxant, instead of water.

Vaccination rates - meaning the number of young children covered - recently dropped to a low of only 31%, external in Samoa, compared to 99% in nearby Nauru, Niue, and Cook Islands.

“By utilizing our high-volume plastic injection molding capabilities and applying our turnkey manufacturing solutions, our team produced a new fluid trap-tip swab that meets the strict requirements for use in the medical field,” explained Araten. “This swab makes the testing process more comfortable for patients and more effective for medical professionals.”

Although measles deaths worldwide have fallen sharply since the 1960s, the World Health Organization has warned of a comeback around the world since 2017.

With a predicted 4.6% annual growth rate over the next seven years, there is a clear expectation for sustained growth through Q4 2021 and beyond.

Before the introduction of a vaccine in 1963, "major epidemics occurred approximately every 2-3 years and measles caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year", according to the WHO.

Since the emergency declaration last month, a mass vaccination campaign has got under way, with more than 58,000 people successfully vaccinated, the government said, external.

According to Thomas data, demand specifically for medical injection molded plastics has also risen more than 153% year-over-year and 106% quarter-over-quarter, most notably fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. With more than 363,000,000 tests conducted in the U.S. alone since the beginning of the pandemic, the medical and pharmaceutical industries have been pushed to their limits and healthcare providers have had to find innovative solutions to meet the growing need for accurate and efficient testing swabs.

This article was sponsored by The Rodon Group, an ISO 9001:2015 certified, high-volume custom plastic injection molder. To learn more about Rodon’s nasal testing swabs in their latest case study or to secure sample collection swabs for your testing needs, click here.

Worldwide, the number of cases quadrupled in the first three months of 2019 compared with the same time last year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In July 2018, two infants died in Samoa after receiving vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella, raising local fears over the vaccine itself.

The rise is - in part - due to some parents shunning vaccines for philosophical or religious reasons, or concerns, debunked by medical science, that vaccines are linked to autism.

For example, when the staff at Fox Chase Cancer Center, a Philadelphia-based research hospital, realized their suppliers would not be able to scale to meet surging testing requirements, they turned to Araten and The Rodon Group for a solution. Although Rodon had never previously produced throat or nasal swabs, they quickly designed a custom swab for Fox Chase that allowed for better collection and release of patient samples.

Samoa's fellow Pacific island nations Tonga and Fiji have also declared states of emergency to tackle their measles outbreaks.

With COVID-19 still a global concern and healthcare facility testing needs still high, the demand for medical plastic injection molding services shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, plastic injection molding services were the fifth most-sourced service across the entire Thomas Network in Q3 2021.

“Plastic injection molding offers several advantages that metal parts just can’t match, including less material waste, increased traceability, enhanced compliance with industry regulations, and high-temperature resistance and tolerances,” said Michael Araten, CEO of The Rodon Group, a U.S.-based, third-generation plastic injection molding business.

The epidemic has also seen a surge in alternative medicines touted as cures. Some reports suggest vitamin products or alkalised water are being sold as treatment.

Although effective and safe vaccination is available, even some developed countries have seen a resurgence in recent years.

"The best way to keep children safe is to make sure they're immunised. Preventing vaccination and presenting false information kills children. That is clear - the evidence speaks for itself."

With a turnaround time of only a few weeks, The Rodon Group now expects to produce as many as 50 million swabs per year. The swab is FDA registered and is anticipated to soon receive ISO 13485 certification.

Often used as a reliable, lightweight, and cost-efficient way to manufacture parts that meet varying industry standards and FDA approval, sourcing activity for plastic injection molding services has increased more than 127% month-over-month on Thomasnet.com.

With demand for plastic molded parts rising, driven in particular by major end-use industries, the plastic injection molding market is currently projected to reach over $513 billion by 2026.

"These deaths were due to human error. But the fact that you had two children die on the same day in the same institution, obviously caused a great deal of distrust towards the health system and towards vaccinations.