Vaccine hesitancy and low routine vaccination coverage has led to an increase in measle cases in Maharashtra, confirmed health department officials on Tuesday.
This year, the overall measle rubella (MR) vaccination coverage for Maharashtra is as low as 60%. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) coverage of MR is just 43%, whereas Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has a coverage of just 46%.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family and it is normally passed through direct contact and through the air. The virus infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body. According to WHO, an outbreak is a cluster of at least five cases from the same area or a confirmed measles death.
Speaking about the spread of the disease, Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance officer with the health department said, “The case are in clusters and only in Mumbai. The areas that have reported measle cases have high vaccine hesitancy. However, in other parts of the state, the cases are not in clusters.”
One suspected death due to measles was reported in Mumbai on Monday, confirmed Dr Awate.
“The suspected death is of a five-year-old who was not vaccinated and malnourished. Children are at risk, as vaccine hesitancy is high. We are conducting surveys and have reached 10 lakh households. We have found over 900 patients with symptoms of fever and small red spots, but confirmed cases are 126, and out of these, 99 patients were found in the last two months. We have admitted 61 children at Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai to keep them under observation. Out of these 61, only six needed oxygen. Mumbai is a densely populated city especially in the slum regions. In slum areas, even if one child gets measles, the disease spreads,” said Dr Awate.
{{/usCountry}}“The suspected death is of a five-year-old who was not vaccinated and malnourished. Children are at risk, as vaccine hesitancy is high. We are conducting surveys and have reached 10 lakh households. We have found over 900 patients with symptoms of fever and small red spots, but confirmed cases are 126, and out of these, 99 patients were found in the last two months. We have admitted 61 children at Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai to keep them under observation. Out of these 61, only six needed oxygen. Mumbai is a densely populated city especially in the slum regions. In slum areas, even if one child gets measles, the disease spreads,” said Dr Awate.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking about the low vaccination, Dr Sachin Desai, state immunisation officer said, “Overall routine vaccination has been good in the state over the past few years. Measles can be prevented by vaccination and there needs to be more awareness in this regard.”
Dr Anshu Sethi, Paediatrician and Neonatologist, Apollo Clinic, Vimannagar, Pune said that the first dose of vaccine should be given at the age of 9-15 months and second dose at 5-6 years.
“Measles is a viral infection that begins with mild to moderate fever. It is often accompanied with persistent cough, running nose, redness in eyes and malaise. This is followed by rashes which appear starting from phase symptoms after 7 to 10 days of contact with the infected person. It usually spreads to children at the time of changing weather. Symptoms may last up to 10 days if there are no complications related to lungs (pneumonitis) or brain (encephalitis).To prevent being infected, it is important to have vaccination cover,” said Dr Sethi.