LAHORE: Punjab is at a potential risk of the measles outbreak as an alarmingly high number of cases of the disease have been reported in recent weeks, according to a report in the local newspaper.
The situation is said to more disturbing Lahore, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala as most of the cases have been reported from there compared to other districts of Punjab.
The official figures pertaining to the measles cases show that a sharp increase has been witnessed during the last four weeks or so, calling into question the health experts dealing with the prevention of the diseases.
Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) Punjab Director Munir Ahmad said the health teams had responded to emergencies in 73 union councils of the province which had recently reported measles outbreaks.
“We are facing an extraordinary situation in the current peak season of the measles in Punjab as a good number of cases are being reported these days,” he said.
The EPI Punjab surveillance bulletin continued reporting a sharp increase in the cases surfacing in most parts of the province.
According to the official statistics, 31 children in the province have succumbed to the disease in the last four months or so. This death toll is said to be alarmingly high in recent years since the Punjab province started reporting the measles cases.
Most cases were reported from Lahore where total 1,412 suspected measles cases were reported during last four months or so, followed by 786 in Rawalpindi and 307 in Gujranwala.
The Union Council 135 of Lahore alone has three confirmed measles outbreaks in recent times.
According to the EPI performance indicators, total 5,178 suspected and 258 confirmed measles cases have been reported in Punjab since January 2018. During the last one week, 735 measles suspected cases were reported.
Of the total 31 child deaths caused by the measles, three were reported in Lahore, two in Okara, one each in Sahiwal, Jaranwala, Chakwal, Chiniot, Kasur etc.
The EPI performance indicators further shared statistics about the 12 high-risk districts, stating Attock reported 140 suspected measles cases, Faisalabad 260, Kasur 139, Okara 180, Rahim Yar Khan 115, Rajanpur 128, Sahiwal 136, Sheikhupura 210, Sialkot 115 and Toba Take Singh reported 126 suspected measles cases.
Of the total 38 outbreaks of the disease, Lahore reported 27, five each in Rawalpindi and Rajanpur and one each in Attock and Sheikhupura.
Of the total 258 confirmed cases in high-reporting districts, Lahore reported 158, Rawalpindi 31, Sheikhupura 20, Rajanpur 15 while Attock reported six confirmed cases, say the EPI-Punjab performance indicators.
According to Dr Munir, if five or more cases were reported in any union council, it is considered an outbreak.
“However, we can’t declare the measles outbreak in Punjab on the basis of the present reported number of suspected and confirmed cases across the province so far,” he said.
However, Dr Munir termed the situation as disturbing and said the health teams had been alerted to curtail the number of cases by reaching out to the maximum number of children to vaccinate them against the measles.
The medical experts say the measles is a childhood infection caused by a virus. They say the signs and symptoms appear around 10 to 14 days after exposure of the body to the virus. The signs included fever, dry cough, runny nose, sore throat, inflammation of eyes and tiny white spots on the body.
