30K kids get measlesrubella shield

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation says drive will continue until they cover at least 95% of targeted beneficiaries

MUMBAI: Around 30,777 students across 98 schools received the measles-rubella vaccine on the first day of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) vaccination drive in the city on Tuesday. The BMC had aimed to vaccinate 42,263 students on the first day of the drive and has vaccinated 78% of the targeted students.

The campaign hopes to reach approximately 30 lakh children between the ages of nine months to 15 years. According to a BMC official, the campaign will go on till at least 95% of the target is achieved.

This year, the civic body has recorded 31 outbreaks of measles and one outbreak of rubella in the city January 2018. An outbreak means at least five cases from an area. Last year, 23 such outbreaks were reported. Vaccinations are being given by officials from the BMC’S public health department at hospitals and schools across the city. “Nearly 60% of the children in this age-group [nine months to 15 years] are school-going,” said Dr Santosh Revankar, deputy executive health officer, BMC. So far, 12.4 crore children across 21 states have been immunised.

“Majority of the schools complied with the programme. However, there were some schools which have objected,” said Dr Chandrashekar Chiplunkar, assistant health official, BMC.

Earlier, HT had reported that the state health department had termed nearly 300 schools across the state as ‘difficult schools’ for not cooperating with health officials in vaccinating their students under the vaccination campaign. A World Health Organisation official said that nearly 180 of these are prominent schools are from the city.

At KEM Hospital in Parel, 35 children received the shots on Tuesday. “We are asking the parents to wait with the children for half an hour after the injections, in case a child develops an adverse reaction,” said Dr Ravindra Khembhavi from the department of community medicine, at KEM Hospital.

Revathi Srinivasan, principal of Smt Sulochanadevi Singhania School, said the first day of the drive went well at her school. “Over 95% of pre-schoolers were vaccinated today. We had already conducted a number of sessions with parents to make them aware of the programme,” she said.

Children who have already been vaccinated will also be given the shots which will act as boosters.

Measles is a highly infectious viral disease causing illness and death, due to complications such as diarrhoea, pneumonia and infection in the brain. Rubella, also a virus, can infect pregnant women in the first trimester and children with congenital rubella syndrome may be born with heart problems, deafness and blindness.