Measles outbreak in Mumbai: Central team finds gaps in vaccination

Civic workers vaccinate kids at Rafi Nagar, Govandi

The Central high-level team, that visited Govandi after mid-day highlighted measles outbreak in a few slum pockets there, has flagged gaps in immunisation, inadequate manpower at the civic-run Rajawadi Hospital that caters to the area and higher severity of the viral disease in M East ward. The measles outbreaks in Govandi came to the fore following the death of three kids in 48 hours, apparently due to malnutrition, at Rafi Nagar last month.

mid-day's reports spurred the BMC to step up surveillance and share more details about measles outbreaks in Govandi and other areas in Mumbai this year. The corporation also suspected that the Rafi Nagar kids might have died due to measles. On Saturday, a team sent by the Union ministry of health and family welfare visited Rafi Nagar and met the families of the dead children. The team also visited Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar.

The team met Maharashtra's principal secretary of health and BMC officials on Monday. A top state health official told mid-day, "The team has not submitted a report yet but they came to discuss whatever they noticed during their inspection. They found that outbreaks occur quite often as they have been continuously reported since January." The senior official said there were outbreaks in 11 wards so far this year. "They said that the severity of the outbreak is more in the M East ward [which covers Govandi]. They also found shortcomings in vaccination," said the official.

Also read: Measles outbreak: 61 suspected patients admitted in Kasturba hospital this month

The official added, "The Central team suggested that the vaccination team be strengthened. More effort should be given to information, education, and awareness. An awareness drive needs to be carried out in areas like Govandi to make parents aware of the disease. The team also visited Rajawadi Hospital and found some gaps in terms of the availability of staff. The same will be conveyed to the BMC."

A senior health official from BMC said the team reviewed data from 11 wards that have reported measles outbreaks. The data shows that about 60 per cent of the positive cases were not vaccinated at all, while the rest were partly vaccinated for measles and rubella. "The team directed the BMC to put additional manpower in Govandi which is the most affected area. They also added that the BMC needs to speed up the process of identifying the suspects and vaccination," the official said.

61 suspected cases at Kasturba hospital

>> The number of children admitted to Kasturba hospital for fever and rashes reached 61 on Monday. Of these kids, 6 are on oxygen support. The civic-run hospital at Chinchpokli has four wards to treat confirmed and suspected measles cases.

Measles outbreaks

>> 126: No. of outbreaks in city so far
>> 4: Outbreaks in November
>> 2: Outbreaks in L ward (5 cases each at Kajupada and Tulip)
>> 2: Outbreaks in M East ward
(5 cases each at Annabhau Sathe Nagar and Deonar)