15-month-old dies of suspected measles; tally rises to 10

The death of the child has been attributed to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and severe bronchopneumonia with measles.

Mumbai: A 15-month-old girl from Govandi passed away on Saturday while undergoing treatment for suspected measles. The child was on ventilator support for a week. She had also suffered a cardiac arrest while still in the hospital. Meanwhile, eight of the previous nine deaths were confirmed to be caused by measles.

She was admitted to the hospital on November 6, three days after the symptoms first appeared. She had a cardiac arrest on November 11 for which she was shifted to the paediatric intensive care unit. (Shutterstock)

The death of the child has been attributed to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and severe bronchopneumonia with measles. The girl was known to have undergone surgery for fluid retention in the brain (hydrocephalus) at 5 months of age.

She was admitted to the hospital on November 6, three days after the symptoms first appeared. She had a cardiac arrest on November 11 for which she was shifted to the paediatric intensive care unit.

The total number of confirmed measles cases reached 208 on Monday, while more than 3000 suspected cases have been registered so far. All suspected cases (children with fever and rashes) have been administered vitamin A shots to help build their resistance to the infection.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been conducting several additional vaccination camps, besides the regular ones, to ensure all unvaccinated children are covered.

A worry not only for kids?

Two men, aged 18 and 22, in Govandi where the ongoing measles outbreak was first reported among the kids have come down with fever and rashes. As these symptoms are closely associated with measles, it is making the residents of the locality believe they have developed the viral infection usually seen in children.

The civic authorities, however, have appealed to people to not get panicky yet. “Fever with rashes can be caused by several factors. We are not sure yet that this is due to measles,” said an official from the M east ward.