Balkh hospital records 1,500 measles cases in 3 months

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): Abu Ali Sina Hospital officials said on Monday they registered about 1,500 measles cases during the past three months.

Dr. Habibur Rahman, a pediatrician ward specialist in Abu Ali Sina Hospital told Pajhwok Afghan News the hospital admitted 1,500 children suffering measles during the past three months.

Most of the admitted patients have been discharged from the hospital after receiving medical treatments while only 40 of them still were receiving treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital, Habibur Rahman said.

The doctor described measles as a viral contagious illness and added children contracted it in their early ages.

He advised families to immunize their children before the age of five years.

Dr. Nadeem Sartor, a doctor of internal illnesses, said measles was caused by a type of virus that infected a child’s body. Families should take precautions to prevent this disease in advance. The only way to prvent the illness is vaccination, he said.

According to Dr. Sartor, house remedies for measles such as wrapping children in warm cloths have negative impact.

He said: “When a child gets measles, ii first develop white spots inside their mouth, followed by high fever, their eyes become inflamed and eventually develop red rashes on their body. Such patients should be taken to the nearest health center and doctor as soon as possible.”

But a number of caregivers of such patients in the hospital said the level of awareness must be increased in society for more information of the public.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) organization has also reported an increase in measles cases in Afghanistan, but the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has rejected its claim.

aw/ma