Hungerhasteningdeathsin Mumbai’smeasleshotspots

Somita Pal, Payal Gwalani and Sajana Nambiar

MUMBAI: Just when we had stopped obsessing about daily Covid caseload, there is a new cause for worry. Measles, that common outbreak which routinely afflicts schoolkids, has turneddeadly. 12infantsbelowthe age of 5 have died in the Mumbai Metropolitan Area in the last 3 weeks.

On Friday, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation identified 4 measles-affected areas while a newly formed state task force grapples with vaccine hesitancy in large pockets. But in the worst-affectedareas, itishunger, thatolder malaise which is hastening measles fatalities. Death analysis of the children who succumbed to the viral infection indicates that malnourishment in combination with the children not being vaccinated is having fatal consequences.

These indicators, and their presence in the slums of M east ward is not new though. In 2010, sixteen children in the rag pickers’ community in Shivaji Nagar had died of malnutrition related illnesses. A 2012 study conducted by Dr Saiprasad Bhavsar, then a junior resident at the Topiwala National Medical College and BYL Nair Charitable Hosptial in Rafiq Nagar, also speaks about the widespread malnutrition and the low immunisation rate in the locality. According to the findings of this study, 116 (59.8%) of the 194 children who participated were malnourished and only 90 (46.4%) were completely immunised.

Thenewly-appointedstate-level measles task force also acknowledges the problem. Dr Subhash Salunke, formerDirectorofHealth Services for Maharashtra who heads the task force said, “Malnourished and not being vaccinated can land a child into serious trouble in terms of measles. A child with no access to good nutrition has to be hospitalised if they develop complications due to grade 4 malnutrition.”

Senior pediatrician and former vice-chancellor of Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), DrMrudulaPhadke, who has done several researches on nutrition said the pandemic has left a deep impact on the health and nutrition levels of vulnerable communities. “Job losses and insufficient savings in these families have led to nutritional deficiencies,” she said.

ShealsoreferredtotheNational Family health Survey 5 conducted in 2019-2020, according to which the percentage of urban children in Maharashtra with stunted growth (height of a kid being low for its age) and wasted growth (child being underweight for its height) is very high. While 35% of urban children under 5 years of age were found to have stunted growth, 23% of them had wasted growth.“Covid would have significantly increased the proportion of malnourished children, especially in the vulnerable communities. Even children whose growth factors may look normal can still be suffering from what is called as hidden hunger which is the deficiency of micronutrients like iron, vitamin D,” she said.

Talking aboutwhy the infection