“As death numbers are likely to go up, a worrisome situation has been perceived. At the taskforce meeting, we will discuss the plan of action, which includes community mobilisation and ensuring people staying in slum areas are convinced about measles vaccination. In areas where there is low vaccine acceptance and resistance, we are now trying to reach out through leaders and private practitioners. We are also looking to refine standard treatment protocols and share those with paediatricians and practitioners. The focus is on early referral,” Dr Salunkhe advised The Indian Express.

“Though a majority of the cases were being reported from Mumbai initially, we are now reporting cases from various districts, including Dhule, Jalgaon and Buldhana, and cases are likely to be reported from rural areas too. Ahmedabad (in Gujarat) has reported suspected cases apart from other regions on the borders of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh,” stated Dr Salunkhe, who reiterated the necessity for Maharashtra to make measles a notifiable illness (a illness that’s required by legislation to be reported to authorities authorities).

Dr Subhash Salunkh. (Express Photo)

“Measles outbreaks are not unique to Maharashtra alone and other states are reporting suspected measles cases. We will issue a revised standard treatment protocol and take measures to mobilise community participation,” he added.

The state taskforce contains 11 members from Pune and Mumbai and directions have been issued to every district to arrange its personal knowledgeable taskforce.

“Unfortunately, the health system capability is not up to the mark. Maharashtra is well known for straightforward reporting and not hiding cases – so we report ground realities,” Dr Salunkhe stated.

In the final three years, the give attention to the administration and management of Covid negatively impacted the routine immunisation programmes in India, Dr Salunkhe and different specialists noticed. “This is the ground reality. The focus on Covid control diverted health systems resources and other national programmes like tuberculosis (TB) elimination, vector-borne disease control have been affected,” the taskforce chairperson stated.

“Measles outbreaks occur when the percentage of unimmunised children goes up and when it is concentrated in a specified area. Usually, it is seen in migrant populations and in areas where sanitation and standard of living are low. Measles is known for higher mortality in an area where there has been no immunisation for a longer period,” he added.