(MENAFN- Tribal News Network) Salma Jahangir
PESHAWAR: Measles has reared its ugly head in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa again as 104 children have been diagnosed with the disease so far this year, while 218 more suspect cases are under scrutiny.
These figures have been compiled from official data of the Health Department provided by different government hospitals, while the actual number of infected children may be much higher. According to the Health Department, a total of 13,229 measles cases were reported in KP in 2018 among which the virus was confirmed in 1,515 children. As many as 20 children died of the disease that year. The last year saw marked improvement in measles cases as only 288 cases were reported with three deaths.
The administration of Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) said six children died of measles in the hospital during the last three months. This year, 46 confirmed cases of measles have been registered by the hospital. The emergence of 104 new measles cases during last one and half months has left the health authorities and parents extremely concerned.
Symptoms and precautions
Qari Sher Ali Baz Khan from Razmak area of North Waziristan said while talking to TNN that his one-year-old daughter first had cough and then high fever. He said he admitted his daughter to Razmak Hospital where she was diagnosed with measles and she died six days after diagnosis despite proper treatment. He said that earlier his two-year-old niece also died from the disease.
Dr Bilal, trainee registrar at HMC Peshawar, said measles vaccine is first administered to child at the age of nine months which produces 70 percent resistance in the body against the disease. However, he said, one year old child can contract measles if resistance in the body reduces.
Some parents said their children contracted measles despite vaccination. Dr Bilal said wrong management of vaccination like storage or administration many render it ineffective. He said some parents don''t administer second measles vaccine their children which is given at the age of 15 months which produces 90 percent resistance against the disease.
Murtaza, a resident of Charsadda, said his eight-month-old son died of measles as it could not be diagnosed timely. Dr Bilal said an affected child has high fever and rashes in the mouth. He said the body of the affected child is also covered by small red-colored pimples (rash). He said it is an RNA virus and even doctors cannot diagnose it until the skin of the infected child turns red.
Dr Bilal said the virus becomes active in its season and mostly affects children below one year of age or those who did not get vaccine. He said children with continuous fever and runny nose and eyes must immediately consult doctor and such children must be kept separate from other children to avoid spread of the disease.
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