Authorities report that measles has killed 12 youngsters in Mumbai and adjacent regions in western India.
The first fatality was recorded between October 26 and 27, when three youngsters perished within 48 hours.
The city has 233 confirmed cases as of Wednesday, a threefold increase over last year’s 92 cases and two fatalities.
Authorities claim that a slow vaccination campaign during the Covid epidemic led to the increase in illnesses.
The most recent recorded fatality, on Tuesday, was of an eight-month-old infant who was partly immunized, according to a news release from the local government.
Measles is significantly more infectious than Covid and may cause severe consequences, particularly in children younger than five years.
Two doses of the mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) vaccination may protect against the illness, which causes coughing, rashes, and fever.
There have been several significant outbreaks in European nations with low MMR vaccination rates.
If unvaccinated and exposed, nine out of ten persons are susceptible.
In addition to creating a characteristic rash, measles may cause life-threatening consequences such as pneumonia and brain inflammation, and is occasionally deadly.
Vaccination can eliminate almost all of these dangers.
Two doses of the MMR vaccination provide around 88% protection against mumps and 99.9% protection against measles and rubella.
When a large proportion of the population is protected by vaccination, disease transmission becomes more difficult.
However, since the onset of the Covid epidemic, there has been an alarming decline in the number of youngsters getting these vaccinations on time.
In 2020, 23 million children did not get the recommended childhood vaccinations. According to Unicef, this is the greatest number since 2009 and 3.7 million higher than in 2019.
Due to the epidemic, around 20,000 children in Mumbai did not get their measles vaccination on time.
Dr. Mangala Gomare, Mumbai’s executive health officer, told The Indian Express, “Now, we are following all these youngsters and arranging vaccination campaigns as a matter of urgency.”
According to health experts, other obstacles, such as vaccination reluctance, impede the initiative.
Shreya Salvi, a health volunteer, told the newspaper, “After vaccination, some children have moderate fever and soreness in the injected location, thus parents do not allow their children to get vaccinated.”