Another child in Jacobabad district of Sindh lost his life on Sunday due to measles outbreak. According to District Health Officer (DHO) Abdul Ghaffar Rind, the child breathed his last at the district hospital, lifting the death toll to 6 in the district. He further said that 122 children are infected with measles in the district.
The outbreak of measles cases was reported in northern Sindh districts of Jacobabad and Shikarpur on April 01. The Sindh health department sent its team to the area after several cases of measles were reported in children in Jacobabad, Thul, Garhi Yaseen and other towns. The team also comprised the officials of the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI). “In March 75 children infected with measles were brought to the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) in Karachi,” NICH head Dr Jamal Raza said. “In last three months over 160 children were brought to the hospital,” NICH chief said. “Fifty percent children of them from other districts were infected with measles,” Dr Raza said. “Measles is a dangerous and deadly disease for children. Most of the parents avoided measles vaccination to children owing to coronavirus and a large number of children remained from inoculation,” Prof. Jamal Raza said. “Vaccination is the only safety for children against measles,” he said.