Measles epidemic: Four more children succumb to preventable disease

LAHORE:

Four more children died of measles in the last 24 hours in the City.

Four-year-old Ali Sher, Faizan, Ali Haider and Hassan, lost their lives to the disease at Mayo Hospital and Children’s Hospital, Lahore.

“It was heart-rending for us to see his [Sher’s] father cry. He lost his only son…to a disease which is 100 per cent preventable,” said a doctor who treated Sher.

“He was not vaccinated,” he added.

Sher was taken to Mayo Hospital four days ago after he showed typical measles symptoms – fever and a runny nose.

He remained at the paediatric ward for 48 hours before he died. A brain infection, a measles complication, was identified as the exact cause of his death.

As per official figures, reported cases of measles have exceeded 3,200 in Lahore and 10,000 in the Punjab.

Caretaker Health Minister Salima Hashmi on Wednesday inaugurated an Immunization and Mother and Child Health Week at the Children’s Hospital. Speaking on the occasion, Hashmi said as many as 600,000 children would be vaccinated in the week-long campaign. She said over 1 million pregnant women would also be provided preventive vaccination.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2013.