Six children died of measles and 656 cases were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) during the last three months.
According to the report of KP Health Department, five children died of measles in Dera Ismail Khan and one in Tank.
The report said that 105 children were confirmed with measles virus in Charsadda and 102 cases of measles were reported in Dera Ismail Khan.
According to the health department, 64 children in Peshawar, 46 in Kohat, 28 in North Waziristan and 37 in Bajaur were affected by the measles virus.
The health department said the spread of measles increases as the weather warms. Measles prevention campaign is also being conducted in the affected districts.
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Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus. Before the introduction of measles vaccine in 1963 and widespread vaccination, major epidemics occurred approximately every 2–3 years and measles caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year.
More than 140 000 people died from measles in 2018 – mostly children under the age of 5 years, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine.
Measles is caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family and it is normally passed through direct contact and through the air. The virus infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body. Measles is a human disease and is not known to occur in animals.
