Anganwadi volunteer Vidya Shinde has been explaining to residents of Mumbai’s Rafi Nagar slum why they need make sure their children are adequately immunized against measles for the past week. After serving meals to the youngsters at the neighborhood anganwadi center, which looks after children under the age of six as well as pregnant and nursing women, Shinde departs on her rounds.
She frequently hears the same excuses, such as “my child has fever,” “he is asleep,” and “I will come later.” On November 11, she saw a familiar face as she came out of a congested maze of roads. She yelled, “Aayat ki mommy.” Mother of Aayat. vaccination dose? The mother claimed that her daughter got a fever following her first measles dose.
A measles outbreak has been plaguing Rafi Nagar, a section of the Shivaji Nagar slum in northeastern Mumbai, for the past three weeks. Since October 26, six local kids have passed away from illnesses that may have been caused by the measles.
Beyond Rafi Nagar, other parts of the city are already seeing the outbreak. Mohammed Hasan, a one-year-old from Pythonid in South Mumbai, became the seventh kid to pass away from the virus on Monday.
The homes where the seven kids resided were small. Four of them lacked the measles vaccine. The first two victims were both underweight.
Amita Bhide, dean and professor in the School of Habitat Studies at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, claimed that measles is not actually lethal. “Child fatalities are caused by a variety of other circumstances,” Many poor migrant workers reside in Rafi Nagar, where the first four children were raised. Because of potential side effects including fever and swelling, many parents in this country are reluctant to allow their children to receive vaccinations.
Since the majority of them work for a daily income, having a sick child at home could force them to miss a day’s pay. Health officials and experts claim that malnutrition and lack of vaccinations have been shown to be a fatal combination.
According to Amita Bhide, dean and professor in the Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ School of Habitat Studies, the measles is not actually lethal. “A number of different causes contribute to the mortality of infants.”
Many poor migrant workers reside in Rafi Nagar, the neighborhood where the first four kids lived. Because of possible side effects including fever and swelling, many parents in this country are reluctant to let their children receive vaccinations.
The majority of them are daily wage workers, thus missing a day’s pay due to a sick child at home could be costly. Malnutrition and lack of immunizations have been shown to be a fatal combination, according to health officials and scientists.
vaccine phobia
Health professionals reported observing numerous toddlers with body rashes that have been present for a week after the first measles-related death in Rafi Nagar on October 26. The three healthcare professionals working at a nearby clinic on November 9 were surrounded by parents carrying little children. While others waited in line to have their children immunized, several parents worried about the skin rashes on their kids.
Shahjahan Shaikh stated outside a vaccination clinic at an anganwadi center that her two-year-old son Mohammed had been sick with a fever for a week. A medical professional advised Shaikh that once the fever cooled, she should get him immunized because it appeared to be the measles. The first dose had been administered to the toddler, but he missed the second.
Health professionals are looking into children who skipped a vaccination dosage. Vitamin A supplements are supplied to children with probable measles cases, and they are directed to the closest municipal hospital.
One of the anganwadi workers claimed that in order to promote vaccination, she had taken the drastic measure of informing parents that only immunized kids are eligible for monthly rations. There isn’t any other way to persuade [them] but this, she said.