Measles outbreak: Mumbai's death toll rises to 12; Centre rushes teams to 3 states| Top points

New Delhi, Nov 24: An eight-month-old boy was identified as the latest casualty of a measles outbreak in Mumbai, taking the total number of deaths to 12 on Wednesday. Measles is one of the most contagious human viruses effecting mostly children, but is almost entirely preventable through vaccination.

Here are the latest developments:

• The central government has deputed three high-level multi-disciplinary 3-member teams to Ranchi (Jharkhand), Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Malappuram (Kerala) to take stock of the rising cases of measles in these states. The teams will assist the State Health Authorities to ensure that public health measures are duly practiced and to facilitate required control and containment measures. The teams will also undertake field visits to investigate the outbreak and assist the State Health Departments to manage the increasing number of cases in the three cities.
• In Mumbai, a child developed rashes all over the body on November 20 and was admitted to a BMC hospital on Tuesday evening but died within a few hours, the official statement said, adding the cause of death will be ascertained after an autopsy. As many as 30 new measles patients were admitted to civic or state-run hospitals in the city on Wednesday while 22 patients were discharged, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a release. Also, 156 suspected measles cases were found during the BMC's surveys, the release said on Wednesday. The number of suspected measles cases detected so far this year also rose to 3,534 with 156 new suspected cases with symptoms like fever and rash coming to light, it said. Civic officials screened more than 3.04 lakh households in 24 hours.
• Measles outbreak had been reported in 22 locations in 11 of the 24 BMC civic wards. But the 13 new confirmed cases were from seven different wards, including a ward in south Mumbai, the BMC said. ''All cases of fever with rash are administered two doses of Vitamin-A,'' the BMC release said, adding the second dose is given after 24 hours.
• Presently, measles patients are admitted in Mumbai's eight city hospitals: Kasturba Hospital, Shivaji Nagar Maternity Home, Bharatratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital, Rajawadi Hospital, Shatabdi Hospital, Kurla Bhabha Hospital, Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule hospital, Borivali, and Seven Hills Hospital. Of the 370 beds including oxygen and ICU beds earmarked for measles patients in these hospitals, 113 beds are occupied, according to the BMC.
• The World Health Organization(WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a joint statement on Wednesday said that measles immunization dropped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic as 40 million children missed a vaccine dose in this period. "25 million children missed their first dose and an additional 14.7 million children missed their second dose," the statement said. This decline is a significant setback in global progress towards achieving and maintaining measles elimination and leaves millions of children susceptible to infection, the report said.
• Measles is one of the most contagious human viruses but is almost entirely preventable through vaccination. However, it requires 95 per cent vaccination coverage to create herd immunity.
• Meanwhile, India has recorded 9489 new Measles cases in the first half of the year.