INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
April and September this year, ahead of Somalia (8,435) and Yemen (6,478).
Affected states like Maharashtra are now on an overdrive to
vaccinate children with additional shots, extend vaccination to the young, and also focus on boosting nutrition levels among them
Experts point out that the outbreaks are precipitated by missing routine immunisation.
Outbreaks have been reported in several states
including Maharashtra, Kerala, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Haryana
Maharashtra is the worst hit, reporting 717 cases this year
As many as 303 cases have been reported in Mumbai alone
As of November 28, the city has reported 10 deaths due to measles.
Anish T S, associate professor of community medicine at Government
Medical College, Manjeri, Kerala, says that Maharashtra has a good surveillance and reporting system
districts in Kerala.
He says that while a dip in routine immunisation is to blame, there is also a lot of vaccine hesitancy among some
Last week, in our meeting with local health workers, they reported that migrants in North Kerala who come from Bihar and Bengal have better
During Covid-19, this dipped to 87 percent
officer of Malappuram.
The Union health ministry had rushed teams to Kerala and Maharashtra
It has recommended that one additional dose be administered to children aged between 9 months and 5 years in vulnerable areas
It has also advised that children as young as 6 months old be given a dose in areas where more than 10 per cent measles cases were reported
in children aged below 9 months.Maharashtra was quick to act on this directive
Within 24 hours of getting a final nod from the state government, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) readied a list of 138,000
children in Mumbai who would get an additional dose because they live in hotspots (mainly slums), and another 3,496 children aged between 6
and 9 months would be given the measles shot.
BMC Executive Health Officer Mangala Gomare says the drive will begin this week.
Meanwhile,
targeting non-immunised children
We are creating more awareness and running immunisation campaigns in targeted areas
Since the nutritional status is better than in other places, we are not reporting any deaths
study in Thane district neighbouring Mumbai had shown that nearly 33 per cent of patients contracted measles despite being vaccinated
The researcher, Sudhir Sane from Jupiter Hospital in Thane, had done an epidemiological study of a measles outbreak in the area
The study also showed that nearly 20 per cent of the patients got infected before reaching the age required for vaccination.
A government
source admits that special attention needs to be given to malnourished children
90 per cent to ensure herd immunity and even protect unvaccinated children to an extent
He adds that since people stayed indoors during the pandemic, the instances of such a disease were less even in areas where it was
endemic.
Outbreaks of infectious diseases are likely to happen globally now, he feels
Its vaccination coverage has steadily declined since the beginning of Covid-19
In 2021, a record high of nearly 40 million children missed a vaccine dose: 25 million children missed their first dose and an additional
14.7 million missed their second dose, a joint publication by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention said.
In 2021, an estimated 9 million cases and 128,000 deaths from measles were reported worldwide; 22 countries
experienced large and disruptive outbreaks
In 2021, nearly 61 million vaccine doses were postponed or missed due to Covid-related delays in immunisation campaigns in 18
countries.
Deepa Easow, senior consultant, paediatrics and neonatology, at MGM Healthcare in Chennai stresses that vaccination is the only
way to prevent measles infection
A lot of children have either missed the first or second dose
infected four days before rashes appear
Viruses are very difficult to eradicate and stay in place for a very long time, even after the infected person moves out
Anybody having symptoms should be isolated
If a person gets exposed and is unvaccinated, he or she can be vaccinated within 72 hours
We give patients a dose of vitamin A to avoid complications
