No new case of measles in Nepalgunj

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT,Banke, Feb. 5: The outbreak of measles epidemic in Banke district had killed one infant and 313 people were infected within a month. In the last few days, no new case of measles has been recorded in Nepalgunj, which is the most affected area. 

Ram Bahadur Chand, chief of health department of Nepalgunj sub-metropolitan city, informed that one person has died and 213 people have been infected in the city. Chand said that along with the preparation against the COVID-19 epidemic, preparations for other disasters and epidemic diseases have helped in the control and prevention of the measles-rubella disease.

"Due to pre-disaster preparation, we were able to work immediately for prevention and control as soon as the measles spread," said Chand. "It was also easy to inoculate the targeted children against measles as soon as possible due to preparation.”

Chand said that no new measles patients have been found in Nepalgunj for the past few days. All children of the target age group in the city have been vaccinated against measles.

Naresh Shrestha, Vaccination Officer of Health Office Banke, said that although the Covid infection and the current measles epidemic are different issues, all the people were positive towards vaccination. 

"It is good news that no new cases have been found in Nepalgunj and Narainapur, where many were infected with measles," said, Shrestha. "Measles is on track to come under control fully.” 

According to the health office, only 10 people have been infected in the district till Friday and their health condition is normal. In Banke, a measles vaccination campaign is underway for children aged 6 months to 15 years. Apart from Baijnath and Janaki local levels in Banke, measles infection has been observed in six other local levels.

According to Shrestha, measles is considered to be under control when no new cases appear for 42 to 46 days after the last measles patient was seen in the area or area where the epidemic spread.  As it takes 30 to 45 days for the vaccine to work completely, it is seen that it will take some more time to fully control measles in Banke.