KARACHI: An outbreak of measles cases has been reported in northern Sindh districts of Jacobabad and Shikarpur on Thursday.
Sindh health department has sent its team to the area after several cases of measles were reported in children in Jacobabad, Thul, Garhi Yaseen and other towns. The team also comprises the officials of the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).
“In March 75 children infected with measles were brought to the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) in Karachi,” NICH head Dr Jamal Raza said.
“In last three months over 160 children were brought to the hospital,” the NICH chief said. “Fifty per cent children of them from other districts were infected with measles,” Dr Raza added.
“Measles is a dangerous and deadly disease for children. Most of the parents avoided measles vaccination to children owing to coronavirus and a large number of children remained from inoculation,” he maintained.
“Vaccination is the only safety for children against measles,” he said. “Measles is a major cause of the children’s death,” Dr Raza stressed.
According to experts, the respiratory disease is considered to be a highly virulent infection. Nearly 1 to 3 of every 1,000 children infected with measles are likely to die from respiratory and neurological complications.
Symptoms of the disease usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than 40 °C (104 °F), cough, runny nose, and inflamed eyes. Small white spots may form inside the mouth two or three days after the start of symptoms.
A red, flat rash that usually starts on the face and then spreads to the rest of the body begins three to five days after the start of symptoms. Common complications include diarrhoea, middle ear infection and pneumonia, which are the major cause of deaths of children with measles.
Mothers who are immune to measles pass antibodies to their children while they are still in the womb, especially if the mother had acquired immunity through infection rather than vaccination.
