AMN
With the rise in cases of measles in Mumbai and parts of Maharashtra, the state government is planning to intensify the vaccination drive for those children who have not been immunized yet.
Maharashtra State Surveillance Officer, Dr. Pradip Aware said, Some children are yet to be vaccinated, as a reason they are contracting the disease.
The spread of measles is higher than that of Covid-19. In the case of Covid-19, one infected person use to transmit the disease to 3-4 persons. However, the R-Naught in measles is more severe as it can infect 12-15 persons.
R-naught (R0) is a value that can be calculated for communicable diseases. It represents, on average, the number of people that a single infected person can be expected to transmit that disease.
In other words, it is a calculation of the average spreadability of an infectious disease. He also emphasised tracking and vaccinating those children who have not been immunized with the measles vaccine. Saying that those who have been vaccinated can also contract the disease, he added that the severity will be less among such children.
Meanwhile, in Mumbai, eight new cases of measles were detected yesterday taking the cumulative total to 260 in the island city. The health department has said that around 13 children have died due to measles in Mumbai alone.
Areas that have reported a spike in measles outbreaks are Kurla and Govandi in Mumbai, Bhiwandi in Thane district, and Malegaon in Nashik district.