According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the team will assist the Maharashtra health authorities.
Mumbai: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday decided to depute a high-level multi-disciplinary team to Mumbai to take stock of the uptick in the cases of measles in the city.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the team will assist the Maharashtra health authorities in instituting public health measures and facilitate operationalisation of requisite control and containment measures.
The three-member central team to Mumbai comprises of experts drawn from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), New Delhi, Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC), New Delhi and Regional Office for Health and Family Welfare, Pune, Maharashtra.
“The team is headed by Dr. Anubhav Srivastava, Deputy Director, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), NCDC,” the ministry said in a statement.
The team will also undertake field visits to investigate the outbreak and assist the state health departments in terms of public health measures, management guidelines and protocols to manage the increasing cases of measles being reported in Mumbai.
Notably, three children died in a span of 48 hours in Rafi Nagar of Govandi and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has sounded an outbreak of the contagious disease in the area. After newspaper reports on the possible spread of measles, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had swung into action and had alerted all healthcare facility providers to report measles cases.
An official speaking to the media on condition of anonymity said, “On October 14, a suspected case of measles was detected at Rafi Nagar and till now, six cases have been confirmed.”
The official added, “On Tuesday, the BMC surveyed 914 houses and screened 4,086 people out of which 13 suspects who have a fever and a rash have been identified. After the incident, we have written a letter to all health posts, local practitioners and a private hospital to report measles cases to their respective health officers.”
