Authorities in Kashmir have roped in known sportspersons and doctors to create awareness about the ongoing measles-rubella (MR) vaccination campaign that was started last week. Among the sportspersons, Irfan Pathan and Tajammul Islam have been urging people of J&K to get their children vaccinated for measles and rubella, two deadly diseases.
The campaign that aims to cover all school children of the state under a union health ministry initiative was started on 25 Sept. It is the largest immunization program in the state. Apart from the sports persons, two well known pediatricians of Kashmir, Prof Kaiser Ahmed and Prof Muzaffar Jan have been using social media platform to encourage parents to get their children vaccinated. Also, pediatricians from Jammu were roped in to lend support to the campaign. A sensitisation workshop was organised for all pediatricians of Jammu division by directorate of Health Kashmir.
During the first week of program, over six lakh children have been covered, officials from directorate of family welfare and immunization said. Although, in some pockets of Jammu and Kashmir, officials of the directorate reported “mild resistance”, the campaign has so far been going on successfully. Measles is one of the most contagious diseases ever known and is an important cause of death and disability among young children worldwide.
Caused by measles virus (morbilivirus) it is highly contagious and spreads through cough and sneeze of infected person. It may also spread to non-infected persons though saliva and nasal secretions of those infected. A person who is not immunized has 90 percent chances of getting infection from an infected person, which signifies serious contagious nature of the disease. Rubella is a milder disease that causes similar symptoms as measles. However, a rubella illness can cause serious issues in pregnant women for her unborn child.