Pandemic : Measles claims 79 lives in Peshawar in last five months

Three major hospitals of the city record an increase in infected patients.

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa health department does not seem to be taking adequate measures to control the recent outbreak of measles in the province. In fact, the department does not even have a record of deaths which resulted from the disease.

By local estimates, measles killed 79 children in the last five months in Peshawar alone. In stark contrast, the department claims only seven such deaths occurred in K-P.

Pointing fingers at parents, the department says they do not get their children vaccinated despite vaccines being available free of cost in hospitals. Parents, on the other hand, say a door to door campaign should be conducted for children who missed routine vaccinations.

According to data available with the K-P health department, a total 4,414 cases of measles were reported in K-P in the last five months along with seven deaths. These included three children in Upper Dir and two each in Karak and Nowshera. The highest number of measles cases was reported in Peshawar — 2,343.

Data obtained from three major hospitals in Peshawar showed the Lady Reading Hospital registered 878 cases with 58 deaths, Hayatabad Medical Complex received 318 cases with 15 deaths and Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) registered 171 cases and six deaths.

Out of the 171 cases KTH received, 69 children were found to be unvaccinated. A female doctor working in KTH Children’s Ward B also contracted measles while treating patients.



This shows a large number of patients are visiting hospitals and the outbreak is reaching epidemic levels in the district.

“A door-to-door vaccination campaign for measles needs to be carried out just like it is done for polio,” Assistant Professor Dr Irshad Ahmad told The Express Tribune. “People hardly bring children to hospitals for inoculation and they have only become aware of the problem after dozens of children became infected in the province.”

Ahmad added many parents also did not get their children vaccinated because healthcare centres were located far from their homes.

Despite these concerns, the government still has not started a mass vaccination campaign against the curable disease. The provincial health department’s Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) gives the impression it is only focusing on eradicating polio while other diseases are ignored.  Many donors, including the WHO and UNICEF, have poured money into a provincial government which continues to rely on the centre to begin a mass vaccination campaign, even asking the federal government for Rs430 million for the purpose. This amount is yet to be issued.

“We may begin a campaign in the province in September or October. Residents of specific villages will be assembled at a certain place and vaccinated. A door to door campaign is not possible right now,” said a high-ranking EPI official requesting anonymity.

Measles is a highly infectious disease caused by nose and throat secretions of an infected person. The germs can also be found in airborne droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The first sign of the disease is a high fever which begins approximately 10-12 days after exposure and lasts seven days. During this period, the patient may develop a runny nose, a cough, red and watery eyes, and small white spots on the inside of cheeks.

Measles is prevented with two vaccination doses. The first is administered when the child is nine months old and second when 15 months old. Almost all non-immune children contract measles if exposed to the infection.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2013.