Even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Mumbai races against time to vaccinate kids between nine months and five years of age with vaccines to combat measles, the exponential rise in cases has been attributed to vaccine hesitancy and children missing their routine jabs.
“Many children missed their (routine) vaccination for measles due to COVID-19. We saw many people travelling back home during the lockdown and their children remained unvaccinated,” Mangala Gomare, executive health officer, BMC, told Moneycontrol.
Dr Gomare said cases of the infectious disease that can be serious for children tend to rise during winters but added that this time the numbers are above normal. The unvaccinated cohort of children in the densely populated areas where the outbreak has occurred was high, said the BMC official, adding that cases started increasing from the end of September.
According to BMC data, Mumbai has seen over 220 cases and nine deaths this year, compared with just nine infections and one death last year.
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However, Dr Gomare said the situation was under control as the BMC has formed multiple teams to hunt out cases in the slums.
“There are over 130 camps of medical caregivers for assessing the situation on the ground. The teams are providing vitamins and vaccines to all those between 9 months and five years,” she added.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has deputed multidisciplinary teams to Mumbai to take stock of the situation.
“The teams are assisting the state health authorities in instituting public health measures and facilitating the operationalisation of requisite control and containment measures,” said a health ministry official.
The ministry has not commented on the findings of the high-level teams.
Challenge for BMC
Dr Gomare said a key challenge is the high vaccine hesitancy among those living in wards where the outbreak has happened. “There is an increased amount of refusal from those who are coming for immunisation. There are a lot of people who don’t want their children to be vaccinated,” she said.
The BMC teams also point out the high rate of malnutrition in the children residing in the areas of the outbreak.
“Camps are being organised and the vitamins are being given to malnourished children. The serious cases are currently being referred to hospitals,” the BMC health officer said.
Faiyaz Alam, a resident of M East Ward, one of the areas with a high number of cases, said the community was actively working with the government to fight vaccine hesitancy. “There are announcements being made from mosques appealing to people to vaccinate their children, we are trying to get everyone eligible vaccinated,” he said.
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