503 cases, 8 suspected measles deaths, and evaluation of the situation by the chief minister

On Thursday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde evaluated the situation and instructed officials to pay extra care to hospitalised patients. Maharashtra has registered 503 instances of measles so far this year and eight probable measles-related deaths, all in Mumbai. In a separate bulletin, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced that there have been 169 confirmed cases and eight suspected cases of disease-related deaths in the city.

According to the bulletin, 25 additional measles cases were admitted to the city, bringing the total number of hospitalised patients to 105. 38 additional patients were released from hospitals, but two patients still require oxygen assistance. According to a state health department bulletin, 26 locations in Maharashtra have reported measles outbreaks, including 14 in Mumbai, seven in Bhiwandi (Thane district), and five in Malegaon town (Nashik district).

Chief Minister Shinde assessed the circumstances brought on by the infection’s spread and directed the appropriate officers to pay particular care to hospitalised patients.

He urged efforts to dispel myths and misconceptions about immunisation in communities and gave officers instructions to increase measles monitoring operations to vaccinate individuals who had been left out.

Measles has spread to eight municipal wards in Mumbai, with the M-East ward seeing the most cases (5) and the L ward seeing the third most (all in northeast Mumbai). Eight suspected measles cases have passed away. One of them and seven others are from the M-East ward. Out of them, only one child had received the measles vaccine; the others had not; “in a bulletin from the health department. According to state health surveillance official Pradip Awate, an outbreak is defined as five suspected instances of an infection, of which more than two have been verified through laboratory testing, within a week.

According to the health authority, measles is one of the most common causes of diarrhoea, pneumonia, lowered immunity, and other disorders. It also causes children to become trapped in a cycle of chronic illness and starvation.

According to the notice, the health department is performing house-to-house measles monitoring and special vaccination sessions are being planned in a campaign mode.

For individuals who have not received the measles vaccine, a list of kids between the ages of nine months and five years has been compiled by district or municipal corporation. It stated that these kids receive their immunizations during both routine and special sessions. 2,974 immunisation clinics have been scheduled in the state for October/November with instructions provided to pay extra attention to sensitive areas. Each measles sufferer must receive two doses of vitamin A, according to the department.

According to the bulletin, Maharashtra had 92 cases of the virus in 2021 compared to 193 in 2020.

A top BMC official revealed that on Thursday, one more measles-related fatality was reported in the city, bringing the total to eight. The patient, a 10-month-old girl from the Govandi suburb, passed away on November 3. She frequently visited Thane in the month of October. The eight suspected measles fatalities with fever and rash will be examined by the BMC death committee “in its bulletin, the civic organisation.

According to the bulletin, the Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital in Kandivali, the Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar, and the Shatabdi Hospital in Govandi currently offer admission services for measles patients (all for moderate cases). For addressing severe and critical cases, Kasturba Hospital has a special isolation unit with 83 beds and 5 ventilators. According to the bulletin, a religious leaders’ sensitization conference was held in the East civic ward, which covers places like Govandi, and 40 people attended. They pledged to raise awareness of the illness and support immunisation efforts.

In a meeting earlier that day at the state secretariat in south Mumbai, Chief Minister Shinde assessed the measles outbreak situation and ordered the BMC to enlist the aid of religious leaders in promoting vaccination.

Several ministers attended the meeting in addition to Chief Secretary Manukumar Srivastava and BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal.

The chief minister went to the civic-run Kasturba Hospital in the heart of Mumbai in the evening to assess the situation. According to the bulletin, he spoke with both hospital staff and the relatives of children who had the measles when he was there.

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