Unvaxxed 3-year-old dies of suspected measles

Mumbai: A 3-year-old boy – who was not immunised against measles – is suspected to have succumbed to the infection on December 27, said Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in its report

Mumbai: A 3-year-old boy – who was not immunised against measles – is suspected to have succumbed to the infection on December 27, said Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in its report. The lab report, which came on Monday, confirmed that the Govandi resident had measles. However, the BMC will review the cause of the death.

Measles virus. Mother holding tiny baby foot with red rash, closeup (Shutterstock)

Since the outbreak in October 2022, the city has seen sixteen deaths of which eight are suspected of measles. As per BMC health officials, the child was admitted to a BMC-run hospital on December 26 after he developed breathing difficulty, three days after getting a fever followed by rashes. BMC said his condition worsened and he died of septic shock, anaemia, and malnutrition.

The city has seen 549 laboratory-confirmed measles cases in 2022. The M-East ward, where the latest measles victim lived, has seven outbreaks and 71 measles cases.

Meanwhile, during the outbreak response immunisation (ORI) undertaken by the civic body, 38.30% (99,861) of the eligible children between 9 months to 5 years of age and 45.59% (2,413) eligible children from 6 months to 9 months have been immunised.

BMC has also arranged mobile teams to vaccinate children at construction sites and nomadic sites. The drive was started on December 24. Around 117 children from the construction sites and 120 children from nomadic sites were given the doses.