Mumbai: Measles immunization coverage at 95%, but 31 outbreaks reported this year | Mumbai News

MUMBAI: Although measles immunization coverage among children in Mumbai is above 95%, the city has registered 31 outbreaks of the disease this year so far. In 2017, public health officials recorded 23 measles outbreaks. An outbreak essentially means a minimum of five cases in a given geographical area.

It is clear that measles – one of the most contagious diseases – continues to pose a public health problem. A viral fever characterized by rashes, measles could leave the child malnourished and vulnerable to many other infections, said Dr. Padmaja Keskar, health officer of the city.

According to the government's vaccination plan, each child receives two measles vaccines at the age of nine months and sixteen months. In the private sector, a third vaccine is given to the child around the age of four years and six months.

Although the vaccine confers full immunity against the measles virus, persistent epidemics may be the result of migration, World Health Organization officials said in a statement. measles and rubella from the Union Government. In addition, there are several pockets of slums in Mumbai where vaccination coverage is well below the city average, resulting in outbreaks where more than 30 children are detected with both measles.

The objective of the Measles and Rubella Initiative is to eliminate measles by 2020 and to control the incidence of rubella and conbad rubella syndrome (see box). It is for this purpose that 21 states in the country have embarked on an additional vaccination campaign against measles and rubella. Maharashtra will start the vaccination campaign on 27 November.

The idea is to cover in one month 30 lakh children belonging to the "9 months to 15 years" group of Mumbai. "In the first two weeks, we will focus on providing vaccines in schools, and then in outreach programs and clinics," said a BMC official.

However, vaccination campaigns in schools are not easy. "Parents and school directors are skeptical about the syringes and cold chains used to store the vaccine," admitted the official.

BMC and WHO officials are organizing parent-to-school conferences to emphasize that the measles and rubella vaccine is safe and the cold chain is well maintained. "Plus, self-dosing syringes that can not be used more than once will be used for this drive. Such syringes are not even available in the private sector, "said a WHO adviser to the BMC.

Even in the private sector, doctors say the incidence of measles has exploded. "Measles was common at least a decade ago, but the incidence then decreased," said pediatrician Indu Khosla, a member of the teams of the Indian Medical Association and the Indian Academy. of pediatrics, to help BMC in this initiative. "But it's not uncommon to see children with measles in our clinics," she added. If 90% of the 30 lakh children are vaccinated during the month of November 27th, there is a good chance that measles will be eliminated, the doctors said.