Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa department on Tuesday said that the measles outbreak in the province claimed 22 lives and affected 2,616 children during the first five months of the current year.
In a report released here, the department said that Dera Ismail Khan was the most affected district where 462 cases of measles were reported and 13 children died, adding that 317 positive cases were reported from Charsadda, 226 Peshawar, 166 Bajaur and 161 from Mardan.
Similarly, a total 171 children were infected by measles in Nowshera, Lakki Marwat, and Karak and 136 in Peshawar and Swabi.
The health department said that the scale of the measles outbreak of this year was greater than the cases reported last year, adding that the main reason was the non-vaccination of the children by parents.
Meanwhile, Dr Muhammad Arif, Director Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in K-P said that anti-measles campaign has commenced from June 19 to 24, 2023 in 14 districts of the province.
The primary objective of this campaign is to vaccinate approximately 900,000 children aged between six months and five years against the measles virus, he said. APP
Published in The Express Tribune, June 21st, 2023.
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