KARACHI: Another infant has succumbed to the measles outbreak in Lahore, the media reported on Wednesday.
The infant died after contracting the virus bringing the death toll to nine.
It may be mentioned that the World Health Organization (WHO) had issued an exclusive report on the measles outbreak in Pakistan, which concluded that almost 306 children have fallen prey to the disease.
Maryam Yunus, spokesperson for the WHO, said that around 306 children have died in Pakistan from the disease in 2012 as compared to 64 in 2011.
The report stated further that 206 of those deaths occurred in Sindh province of which Sukkur was the major affected area with 33 deaths.
Around 15 deaths have also been reported in Karachi with the disease claiming almost 70 lives in a week.
A measles prevention campaign has been initiated in Sindh from January 22 this year, during which almost 2.9 million children would be immunized to prevent the disease from recurring.
According to WHO, more than 7,234 cases of measles have been reported in Sindh alone, and the WHO has provided the government with 1.3 million vaccines to combat the disease.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2013
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