Measles outbreak: BMC starts vaccination drives, door-to-door survey in Mumbai

After the measles outbreak in Mumbairsquos slum pockets the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has now started a vaccination drive in FNorth HEast L MEast and PNorth wards in the cityThe civic body has also appealed to the parents to complete measles and rubella vaccination for their 9monthold and 16monthold childrenAccording to the BMC the vaccination sessions are being conducted in Parel Bandra East Santacruz East Kurla Govandi Chembur and Malad West areas due to rise in measles rubella cases among children aged between zero to five yearsldquoWe have requested people to cooperate with the municipal administration by completing the immunization of childrenrdquo said the BMCrsquos public health officialThe BMC also said that it has been found that one child died due to measles Due to this the suspected patients of measles and rubella is being surveyed by doing a doortodoor surveyAlso read In Photos Sena workers show support to MP Sanjay Raut outside Arthur Road jailldquoBlood and urine samples of suspected patients are being taken for examination Out of the total number of measles cases in the survey about 10 per cent of children were found to be partially vaccinated and 25 per cent of children were unvaccinatedrdquo according to the official statement of BMCIn measles the child gets fever cold cough and red rash on the body Complications from this disease can be serious in children who are partially vaccinated and unvaccinated Children who are fully vaccinated are unlikely to develop such complicationsCentre deploys highlevel team to Mumbai to manage measles outbreakThe Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has deputed a highlevel multidisciplinary team to Mumbai to take stock of the upsurge in cases of measles in the city The team will assist the State Health Authorities in instituting public health measures and facilitate the operationalization of requisite control and containment measuresThe threemember team comprises experts drawn from the National Centre for Disease Control NCDC New Delhi Lady Hardinge Medical College LHMC New Delhi and Regional Office for Health and Family Welfare Pune Maharashtra The team is headed by Dr Anubhav Srivastava Deputy Director Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme IDSP NCDCAs per the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare press statement the team will also undertake field visits to investigate the outbreak and assist the state health departments in terms of public health measures management guidelines and protocols to manage the increasing cases of Measles being reported in Mumbai