Measles‑Rubella Vaccination Campaign: Pandemic as Speed Breaker

Abstract

Background: Infectious diseases such as measles and rubella (MR) spread quickly to infect vulnerable populations, especially children below 5 years. Mass vaccination had been implemented to prevent it and its success has been observed through decreasing numbers of cases. The Government of India started MR campaign in February 2017, and Maharashtra was one of the selected states for it. The study was planned to find out the trend of measles cases before and after MR campaign and also to find out the effect of lockdown due to pandemic on vaccine usage. Aim: The aim of this study is to find out the trend of MR cases before and after MR campaign. Materials and Methods: A Descriptive observational study was done in tertiary care center for 2 years. Measles cases from the past 5 years were taken, and the impact of MR campaign was seen. Lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the vaccination drive. To find out the impact, data for different vaccines were collected from different health centers, and analysis was done in Epi-info. Results: Post MR campaign, there was a sharp decrease in measles cases. Measles mostly targeted children below 6 years, and infants were seen having the longest stay in hospital due to the infection. At the onset of lockdown due to pandemic, vaccine consumption has gone down everywhere in the study. Conclusion: Vaccination is a proven weapon to prevent vaccine‑preventable diseases, and measles is no different from other infectious diseases. Lockdown hindered the process of mass vaccination of vaccine-preventable diseases and which has gone down everywhere.