The National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) yesterday recommended lowering the age for receiving the measles vaccine to six months, as one-third of the children recently infected with measles are under nine months, the current age for vaccination.
However, the measles vaccine for children aged six months to five years will be given only during a special vaccination campaign, expected to be held in June or July based on the availability of all logistics, said Halimur Rashid, director of disease control at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and also a member of NITAG.
The age for routine measles vaccination will remain nine months.
The group also decided to investigate the recent surge in measles cases to determine whether the cases originated within the country or not and has assigned the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) to carry out the task, The Daily Star has learnt from meeting attendants.
The advisory group held the meeting amid a surge in measles cases, with at least 40 children reported dead from measles or related complications as of Sunday.
The actual number of deaths could be higher.
A total of 676 positive measles cases have been reported until Sunday to the DGHS, though the actual number could be higher.
Children aged nine months and 15 months receive measles vaccination twice under the regular immunisation programme, said Shahriar Sajjad, director of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).
The vaccination rate is 90 to 92 percent, so special vaccination campaigns are usually carried out every four years,....
