Mumbai sees 1 death, 13 fresh measles cases; taking tally to 233: BMC

Mumbai in Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded one death and 13 fresh cases of measles, a viral disease, taking the city’s total tally to 233, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. While 13 new cases of measles were reported, as many as 30 new patients were admitted to civic or state-run hospitals in Mumbai. Twenty-two people have been discharged, the BMC said in a release.

The civic body in Mumbai is also running a survey to locate the possible measles cases in the city. During the survey, 156 suspected measles cases have been found. The viral disease is more common among children.

The tally of measles cases reported in the city since the start of the year rose to 233. An eight-month-old boy from neighbouring Bhiwandi, suffering from measles, died in a city hospital on Tuesday evening, taking the toll in the city this year so far to 12.

The child who died developed a rash all over his body on 20 November. The boy was admitted to a BMC hospital on Tuesday, 22 November, but the child died in a few hours, the BMC statement said. The cause of the boy’s death will be ascertained after the autopsy.

The number of suspected measles cases detected so far this year also rose to 3,534 with 156 new suspected cases with synonyms like fever and rash coming to light. Civic officials screened more than 3.04 lakh households in the last 24 hours. 

Of the 24 civic wards in Mumbai, measles outbreak had been reported in 22 locations in 11 wards. The 13 fresh confirmed cases of measles were from seven different wards including A ward in South Mumbai.

"All cases of fever with rash are administered two doses of Vitamin-A," the BMC release said, adding that the second dose is given after 24 hours.

The Central government on Wednesday deployed high-level teams to Ranchi (Jharkhand), Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Malappuram (Kerala) to look into the surge in measles cases among children.

(With agency inputs)