A rash is not necessarily a sign of measles. Measles patients can be managed properly after an accurate diagnosis, says UHS Immunology Department head. PHOTO: FILE
University of Health Sciences (UHS) Immunology Department head Nadeem Afzal told The Express Tribune on Sunday that the disease was highly contagious though completely preventable. “There are specific symptoms...A rash may not be necessarily on account of measles. Most measles patients are first seen by a general physician. They can be managed properly following an accurate diagnosis,” said Afzal.
“To create awareness and set guidelines on how to deal with it, we are organising a seminar at the UHS for general physicians. It would basically guide them on how they should respond and treat a measles patient. Guidelines will also be evolved for the policy makers,” he said.
The seminar is being arranged by the UHS Immunology Department in collaboration with the Children’s Hospital and the Directorate General of Health Services. Dr Afzal said the main objective of the seminar was to create awareness among family physicians, medical students and general public about the highly contagious disease. He said remarkable progress in reducing the number of people dying from measles had been made worldwide through vaccination.
“This achievement attests to the enormous importance of measles vaccination”, he said, adding that recent measles outbreaks showed the ease with which measles virus could re-enter communities if high levels of population immunity were not sustained.
“The major challenges for continued measles control and eventual eradication will be logistic and financial”, he said.
Dr Afzal said Children’s Hospital Dean Tahir Masood, Prof Shakeela Zaman, Health Services Director General Tanvir Hussain and Health Services Director Dr Mubashir Ahmed Malik would speak at the seminar.
“The disease keeps coming to even developed countries if the kids are not vaccinated. In 2008, some 160,000 kids died of measles world over while some 30 million contracted the disease,” he said.
The Global Immunisation Campaign will run from April 24 to 30 in the Punjab. The health director general said special focus would be on children who had not been vaccinated.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2013.
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I would like to reassure all the readers that WHO and Ministry of Health do not recommend adults to get vaccination against Measles. Children are unfortunately suffering from this disease because they were not given vaccination against Measles. The adults are protected against this disease because either they got the vaccine in their childhood as a part of their childhood vaccination program or their body was protected after a mild form of the disease which usually goes unnoticed as a common cold. A reputable source of news like Tribune should refrain from spreading misinformation and havoc amongst the common people with such kind of baseless headlines. The reporter and editor chose a caption for this news item which is not supported by any word form the experts who are quoted here. The best strategy for protecting our children is to ensure that they get Measles vaccination. Parents should check the vaccination card of their children to confirm their vaccination status. Measles vaccine is administered free of cost at all major government hospitals, rural health facilities as well as through outreach vaccination teams visiting the houses.