Mumbai: Govandi kid becomes first victim of Measles

: One and a half-year-old boy from Govandi area becomes the first victim of Measles this year. The death took place last month in October, while three more suspected deaths have occurred in the last 10 days of November, which is under scrutiny by the death review committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Moreover, 90 cases of measles and rubella have been reported in Mumbai since January to October, of which 73 to 74 cases are of Measles while remaining are rubella.

Meanwhile, the centre deployed a high-level team to Mumbai to assess and manage outbreak of measles cases. Health officials said they have now urged parents to complete measles and rubella vaccines for their children. Meanwhile there has been an outbreak of Measles in slum areas of Govandi, Kurla, Dharavi, Antop Hill, Mahim, Bandra and Matunga.

As per the data, most of the measles and rubella cases are detected in October (31) and September (26). “There has been an uptick in measles cases across the city following which we have started integrated surveys and visiting door-to-door. Moreover the death of a 1.

5-year-old boy in Govandi due to measles is confirmed and other three deaths are being reviewed. ” said a senior health officer from the public health department of BMC. However, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to depute a high-level multi-disciplinary team to Mumbai to take stock of the upsurge in cases of Measles in the city.

The team will assist the State Health Authorities in instituting public health measures and facilitate operationalization of requisite control and containment measures. The three member Central team to Mumbai comprises experts drawn from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), New Delhi, Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC), New Delhi and Regional Office for Health and Family Welfare, Pune, Maharashtra. The team is headed by Dr.

Anubhav Srivastava, Deputy Director, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), NCDC. The team will also undertake field visits to investigate the outbreak and assist the State Health Departments in terms of public health measures, management guidelines and protocols to manage the increasing cases of Measles being reported in Mumbai. State public health department’s surveillance officer Dr Pradip Awate said that measles cases are routinely reported across the city.

“These are sporadic,” he said, adding that the state has an active surveillance for measles. Around three crore children in the state were given a special round of measles vaccine in 2017 due to resurgence of the virus across the world. Moreover the civic body has made an appeal to all parents to complete the vaccination of their 9-month and 16-month-old children.

Meanwhile, F/North, H/East, L, M/East Also in P/Uttar Division, additional vaccination sessions are being organized in these divisions as the incidence of Measles, Rubella disease has increased among children aged 0 to 5 years. It is requested to cooperate with the municipal administration by completing the immunization of children. In this vaccination program, children in the age group of 0 to 2 years are protected against diseases like polio, jaundice, tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, rubella, mumps and rotavirus-diarrhea ,pneumonia and pregnant women are vaccinated against tetanus.

India has become polio free since 2014 due to the said routine vaccination and pulse polio vaccination campaign. Also, tetanus has been eradicated in new-borns. Similarly, with the goal of eliminating measles and rubella by December 2023, progress is being made in that direction.

However, in the last few weeks, there has been an increase in measles/rubella infection among children aged 0 to 5 years in F/North Division, H/East Division, L Division, M/East Division and P/North Division in Mumbai. It has also been found that one child has died due to measles. “According to that, the suspected patients of measles and rubella are being surveyed by going door to door through health workers in these departments.

Blood and urine samples of suspected patients are being taken for examination. Out of the total number of measles cases in the survey, about 10 percent children were found to be partially vaccinated and 25 percent children were unvaccinated,” said an officer. .