Infectious diseases: ‘Get your young ones vaccinated at once’

LAHORE:

Over 6,000 cases of measles have been reported in four months in various parts of the Punjab, mostly in Lahore, during the current surveillance drive.

This was stated by Director Health Services for EPI Punjab Dr Tanveer Ahmed on Sunday. He said that 60 to 70 patients were being reported every day in the province.

He said that a total of 19 deaths had been reported so far in Gujranwala, Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Kasur and Lahore districts.

On investigation, it was found that in some cases babies were vaccinated but did not develop immunity, he said. He added that the vaccination and surveillance drives had been stepped up to control the threat. It is also part of the strategy to mop up and vaccinate areas with measles patients, he added.

Dr Ahmed said that intensive vaccination had also been launched in Rahim Yar Khan and adjoining tehsils near the border of Sindh so that the virus could not be transmitted into Punjab. Answering a question, he said that in all the hospitals of Lahore, the measles vaccine was available in abundance. He appealed to parents to get children upto five years of age vaccinated without delay and to cooperate with vaccinators so that they could perform their duty efficiently.

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