Mumbai: Measles cases on the wane as city clocks 71 per cent drop

After reeling from severe outbreaks, reporting multiple cases of fever and rashes, and also witnessing deaths, the city is coming out of the grip of measles. Mumbai has witnessed a drop of 71 per cent in admission figures compared to the past two months. Several measures taken by the civic body, like awareness, immunisation, and door-to-door screening, have brought down the number, said experts.

In 2023, the city reported 129 measles cases, while in the last two months of last year, over 450 cases were reported. Towards the end of December 2022, Mumbai reported 577 confirmed cases. Of the 338 beds, 91 were occupied by the children, including eight in the ICU and four on oxygen support. In the past two months, admissions have gone down. As on March 4, 26 children were admitted to hospitals out of which, four are in the ICU, and one is on oxygen support.

A child being vaccinated against measles in Sion in December last year. In 2022, the measles outbreak lead to the death of 11 children. File pic/Atul Kamble

A civic health official said on condition of anonymity, "The number of admissions has gone down compared to the last three months. Currently, 17 patients are in Kasturba hospital. However, patients coming still require oxygen support and some of them also need treatment in the ICU. They are recovering."

Get immunised

BMC's Executive Health Officer Dr Mangla Gomare said, "Since November 2022, we have been making continuous efforts to search active cases, conduct intense surveillance, and provide doses of vitamin A. We are also doing additional immunisation apart from routine immunisation. We are skipping none of these steps. This has resulted in a dip in cases and admissions. However, people must be careful, and the unimmunised must get vaccinated."

Also read: Mumbai: Two health posts declared measles-free in Govandi

The measles outbreak came on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the city's 24 wards, 21 reported outbreaks in their jurisdiction. On November 7, 2022, mid-day reported on the death of three children in the same family in Govandi's Rafi Nagar slum. The incident alerted civic officials who conducted an investigation. It was revealed that the cause of death was measles and more cases of fevers and rashes were reported in the neighbourhood and other wards of the city. The outbreaks saw the death of 11 deaths between October-end and December 2022.

A team from Delhi had reviewed the situation and recommended several measures like intense door-to-door screening, immunisation, and treatment at the nearest health facilities. The civic body arranged 338 beds in eight hospitals, especially in the wards where the outbreak took place. On November 30, 2022, the city reported 92 suspected cases of fever and rashes in a single day. By this time, the city had reported 323 confirmed cases.

In 2022, the BMC Health Department surveyed 94,72,717 houses across Mumbai in which, 4,601 suspected measles cases were found. Similarly, till March 4 this year, a survey of 72,73,832 houses has been done. During this, 704 suspected measles cases have been found.

704
No. of suspected cases found this year

72lakh
Approx. no. of houses surveyed for measles this year