Measles outbreak in Banke coming under control

BY SIRAJ KHAN, Nepalgunj, Jan. 26: Measles infection, which spread in five municipalities including Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City, Banke district, has gradually come under control.

District Health Office (DHO) Banke has informed that the spread of the disease has been contained after vaccinating most of the children in the affected local levels.

According to Naresh Shrestha, vaccination supervisor of the DHO, the infection first appeared in the metropolis’s Ward No. 7 before spreading to Kohalpur Municipality, Khazura, Narainapur and Duduwa rural municipalities. A vaccination campaign is being launched to contain the spread of disease. 

After the death of a 31-month-old child from measles in Nepalgunj -5, all people became aware and 98 per cent of children aged 6 months - 15 years in the five affected municipalities were vaccinated, said Shrestha. With vaccination, the infection was brought under control, he added. 

According to Shrestha, the campaign was started with the goal of vaccinating 89,458 children of five municipalities affected by measles infection. So far more than 98 per cent, or 88,131 children have been vaccinated.

The health office said that the infection came under control after almost all the children got jabbed. According to DHO, the campaign to vaccinate the remaining 7,053 children was underway. Under the vaccination campaign, 47,355 children in different wards of Nepalgunj, 18,212 in Khajura Rural Municipality, 12,864 in Narainapur and 9,700 in Duduwa Rural Municipality have been vaccinated. According to Shrestha, the vaccine focal person of the DHO, of the 292 measles patients in Banke, 240 have recovered and 51 are being treated at home. 

As the number of measles-affected children increased at the community level, the vaccination campaign was started to prevent the spread and it has been reported that the prevalence of measles has been brought under control.

In addition to campaign, the DHO has intensively conducted patient search and awareness campaigns in the affected areas.