Malappuram district in Kerala is witnessing an outbreak of measles, with 144 cases being reported between November 5 and November 25. Measles is a viral contagious respiratory illness, and the children who were affected by it in Malappuram are between the ages of two and 15. According to officials of the health department, a large driving force behind the increase in cases is vaccine hesitancy.
All the cases are reported from areas with low vaccination coverage. According to the health department officials, 90% of the affected did not receive two doses of the vaccine. It is to be noted that measles — which can be fatal and cause serious complications in young children — is a preventable disease, and that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is part of the national immunisation programme. The first dose of the vaccine is administered at the age of nine months, and the second dose is typically administered between 16 and 24 months. Two doses of the vaccine provide 97% efficacy against the disease, the official said. “But these (current) cases are reported from areas where the vaccine coverage is below 70%. The disease is predominantly reported in children who have not been vaccinated,” the source said.
In light of the outbreak, the health department began a catch-up immunisation programme in the district for children up to the age of five years on Thursday, November 24. With this, the department hopes to provide one dose of the vaccine to all the children in this age group in Malappuram by December 5.
Apart from Kerala, a spike in measles cases is also being reported from Mumbai, with the city seeing 13 deaths due to the disease in the past month alone.
Meanwhile, all the hospitals in the district have stepped up facilities to handle the spike in the number of measles cases.
Health Minister Veena George also spoke about the sudden increase, saying that the state government has planned a special drive to reduce vaccine hesitancy among the people. The minister, in a statement, reiterated the safety of the vaccine, and urged the people to get their children vaccinated against the disease. "Sufficient MR vaccines and vitamin A syrup have been made available in the district. The vaccine is available for free in all health centres,” she said.
The health department official also highlighted the government’s efforts in making the vaccine accessible. “In some cases, parents would delay the vaccination if the vaccine was not available in nearby centres. In the last three to four months, we have compensated for that through our outreach centres,” they said.
Campaigns against vaccination by a few religious leaders are a common occurrence in the district. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said that vaccine hesitancy there had drastically reduced.