Mumbai scrambles to contain measles outbreak as virus kills 10 children
Measles virus
With ten deaths over the last month and a sharp spike in cases, India’s financial capital city Mumbai is staring at ameaslesoutbreak.
Until November 24, 2022, Mumbai has reported 252 confirmed cases.
Measlesis a common infectious disease, especially among children, in which your body feels hot and your skin is covered in small red spots.
Children aged between 09 months to 5 years are mostly affected bymeasles.
In Mumbai, this is a huge jump from the last two years. In 2019, the city saw 25measlescases and in 2020, only nine were reported the entire year. But this year, in less than two months, 233 cases are reported.
In Mumbai, there are seven hotspot areas currently - Dharavi, Govandi, Kurla, Mahim, Bandra, and Matunga reporting the maximum number of cases.
“The start of the outbreak was indicated in October when the city reported 60 cases as against a mere 25 in September this year. That is when we decided we need to start surveying slum areas which are reporting maximum cases,” said Dr Mangala Gomare, Executive Health Officer, BMC.
Surveys revealed that due to the pandemic,measlesvaccination of children got affected. Close to 20,000 children missed theirmeaslesvaccine.
“Our survey report suggested that only 41% of the eligible children had taken vaccination. We have started to raise awareness in these slum areas and track the children who have missed them. We are holding vaccination camps for them too,” said Dr Gomare to WION.
The BMC has issued an advisory stating that ‘Given Measlesoutbreak in Mumbai all the citizens are appealed to vaccinate their children between 9 months to 5 years of age withMeaslescontaining vaccine.’
To contain the spread, vaccination camps, door-to-door surveys, and awareness sessions are being held by the city administration.
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