Mumbai: One of the crucial ways to curb deaths by measles is to rein in malnourishment among children from the underprivileged sections. Last week, HT had reported how hunger is hastening fatalities in measles hotspots.
Since the outbreak in September, the city has witnessed 11 confirmed and four suspected deaths – the latest on Friday, after 11 days.
In the face of the rise in numbers, the state government had appointed a task force on December 1 to help curb the spread of measles epidemic. It had observed nutritional deficiencies among children who died of measles. Apart from its job at hand, the task force has come up with a long-term plan to fight nutritional deficiencies among children in vulnerable communities.
Dr Subhash Salunke, former Director of Health Services for Maharashtra, who heads the task force, said the team has shared the technical guidelines with the state government. The specifications were drawn based on the suggestions made by paediatrician and nutrition expert Dr Mrudula Phadke, former vice chancellor of the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (See box).
“Management of malnourishment is a long-drawn process and requires hospitalisation, especially for children with grade 3 and grade 4 malnutrition,” said Dr Salunkhe. He underscored that symptoms of malnourishment do not show up until the problem becomes acute. “Not much can be done when such a child is exposed to infections,” he said.
He added that apart from access to food for the child and mother, other factors such as poor sanitation and lack of vaccination exacerbated the progression of infectious diseases. He called for the need for the right interventions at the right time to prevent the situation from getting out of hand. “The guidelines must be implemented soon to help make a difference in the affected communities,” he added.
However, a state government official said, “It was too early to comment on long-term planning we are now focused on curbing the epidemic.”
Dr Phadke called for complementary nutrition among children older than six months. In addition to breast milk, their nutrition needs to be mapped by a simple formula – introduce four food groups, four times a day in four colours.
The effect of poor nutrition leads to children remaining underweight with stunted growth, overweight and obese, and those with micronutrient deficiencies. The third group, said Dr Phadke, includes children deficient in iron and Vitamin D majorly, even if they appear healthy.
“The problem is that most children end up eating cheaply available packaged snacks like chips and carbonated drinks which are nutritionally inadequate,” said Dr Phadke.
The task force has also suggested that municipal bodies and NGOs working in the affected areas educate parents about nutritional needs of the children and ensure that they are fulfilled.