20% malnourished children show no improvement in Pune district

At least 20 per cent of children who have been identified by the Zilla Parishad (ZP) as malnourished have not shown any sign of improvement

At least 20 per cent of children who have been identified by the Zilla Parishad (ZP) as malnourished have not shown any sign of improvement. These children will now undergo check-ups at medical colleges, said officials. The state task force recently directed the health department to take special care of malnourished children as fatalities due to measles are more among such children.

At least 20 per cent of children who have been identified by the Zilla Parishad (ZP) as malnourished have not shown any sign of improvement. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

The state health department and the state task force last week instructed that malnourished children who have not been vaccinated against measles can have a severe infection and this can also lead to death. So, the task force has instructed the health department to identify these malnourished children and give them vitamin A tablets in addition to the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines

Ayush Prasad, chief executive officer (CEO), said that the number of malnourished children is the lowest so far in the district.

“We have identified that around 20 per cent of children who are malnourished are not showing any sign of improvement. These malnourished children will now undergo check-ups at medical colleges. This is the lowest-ever malnourishment in Pune. This is despite intensive searching,” said Prasad.

He said that so far there has been a total of 846 children in total who are identified as malnourished. Out of these, all children were given the treatment and so the condition of many has improved. Out of 846 children, 131 were earlier severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and 715 were moderate acute malnutrition (MAM).

“We have given nutritional support to these children and therefore the nutritional status of many children has improved. There are a total of 677 children who have reported improvement in their nutritional support,” said Prasad.

He further added that there are two suspected cases of measles in the rural parts of Pune.

“There are two suspected cases of measles, but they are from the sugarcane labourers. The health department is taking all necessary actions regarding the same,” said Prasad.

Speaking about the suspected cases, Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance office said that there are suspected cases in Maharashtra.

“There are no confirmed cases of measles in cluster or outbreak in Pune district. Except for Mumbai and Malegaon, there has been no cluster infection or outbreaks in other parts of the State. These suspected cases can be hand, foot and mouth diseases and other paediatric diseases as well. Hence, they are suspected cases,” said Dr Awate.