In measles hotspots, minimum age for vaccine cut, booster added

NEW DELHI: Even as an 8-month-old boy became the 13th victim of the ongoing measles outbreak in Greater Mumbai on Wednesday, the Union government recommended a shot of the measles vaccines to children between 6 months and five years of age living in the affected areas.

While the measles vaccine is usually given to children over nine months of age, the outbreak in many states, including Maharashtra, has prompted the Niti Aayog-led Domain Knowledge Technical Experts to recommend the “zero dose” for children in the 6-month-to-9-month age bracket. However, this will only be done in areas where children in this age group make up for around 10% of total measles patients. The other children (in the ‘9 months to 5 years’ group) living in hotspots will be given an extra shot irrespective of whether they have taken one or both measles shots as per the national immunisation schedule.

Based on the central recommendation, the state health department will now work out a detailed vaccination plan, Maharashtra public health secretary Sanjay Khandare told TOI.

BMC additional municipal commissioner Dr Sanjeev Kumar said the BMC would scale up its response to implement the central guidelines. The Union health ministry said the special drive is needed because measles cases surge between November and March. It has also recommended surveillance for malnourished children who are more vulnerable to measles.

Meanwhile, the BMC update on Wednesday said that an eight-month-old boy from Bhiwandi who was brought to a civic hospital in Mumbai on Tuesday, passed away on Wednesday. The number of outbreaks in Mumbai increased to 22 across 11 wards. Thirty fresh cases were admitted to various civic hospitals.

Dr Naveen Thacker, president-elect of the International Pediatrics Association, said measles requires 90-95% vaccine coverage to prevent an outbreak.