Let’s vaccinate: ‘Adults too can contract measles’
Disease highly contagious though completely preventable.
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
LAHORE:
There is no age for contracting measles. Adults too can fall prey to it if they were not vaccinated in the childhood, experts say.
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.
There is no age for contracting measles. Adults too can fall prey to it if they were not vaccinated in the childhood, experts say.
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.