Epidemic: Two minors die of measles in Mohmand Agency

Parents of the deceased say health facilities in the agency are dismal.

SHABQADAR: A six-month-old boy and another two-year-old died after contracting measles in Ghazi Kor and Sultan Khel areas of Mohmand Agency, respectively.

Parents of the deceased children said health facilities in the agency were very poor, adding that their women and children mostly fall prey to such epidemics.

Expanded Programme on Immunisation Coordinator Dr Muhammad Shabeer did not confirm the deaths, adding that it was not reported to the health department as yet. He did, however, confirm the existence of the viral disease in the Pindyali and Sahib Khan Kor area of the agency.



He said that low hygiene conditions, cold weather and pneumonia are the prime reasons of the growing number of measles cases in the area. Symptoms include runny nose, cough, red and watery eyes, and small white spots inside the cheeks. A slightly raised rash develops after a few days, usually on the face and upper neck.

Six children died of the disease in the summer of 2012 in Ambar tehsil of Mohmand Agency, while more than 5,000 cases were reported in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa last year.

The number of cases increased drastically despite the fact that majority of the children had been vaccinated earlier. Of the cases, 3,998 children had been vaccinated.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2013.