Measles Vaccination Campaign Launched in Nepal's Dhorpatan Municipality Amid Outbreak

Baglung. A vaccination drive has been administered in Dhorpatan Municipality, Baglung, to control the spread of measles. On Friday, 4,617 children and adolescents across all nine wards of the municipality received the vaccine simultaneously.

The necessary vaccines and manpower were deployed to schools and health facilities in the measles-affected areas to administer the shots on Friday. As part of the goal to vaccinate 6,763 children and adolescents across Dhorpatan Municipality to control the measles outbreak, which has spread like an epidemic in the remote villages of Dhorpatan, 4,617 individuals were vaccinated on the first day itself. Vaccinations will be administered to the remaining children and adolescents at schools, at their homes if they do not attend school, and at health facilities.

In Dhorpatan Municipality Wards No. 7, 8, and 9, specifically in the villages of Bobang, Serabang, and Lakuribot, 74 suspected cases of measles were identified. Among them, 32 have been discharged after receiving treatment. Seven children are still undergoing treatment.

Pravin Sharma, Chief of the Provincial Public Health Office, informed that an isolation ward has been set up at the Bobang Health Post in Dhorpatan Municipality-8 for treatment and measles control. To immediately control measles and prevent further spread, the measles vaccine has been provided to adolescents aged 10 to 19 across all wards of the municipality. Furthermore, 237 health workers involved in the treatment will also be vaccinated against measles.

The vaccination campaign will run until Chaitra 1. For this, additional health workers have been brought in from neighboring rural municipalities Badigad and NisiKhola. Female health volunteers also assisted in the campaign. Measles infection was confirmed in one person in Dhorpatan on Falgun 8. Since then, although five more people have tested positive, vaccination is being administered to control the spread as others have shown symptoms.

Stating that vaccination is the best measure to control measles infection, all individuals aged 10 to 19 in Dhorpatan will be vaccinated.