Islamabad, Dec 30 (IANS) Seven more children died of measles Sunday in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh, taking the toll due to the disease to 154 in the month, media reports said.
Citing Urdu TV channel Dunya, Xinhua said the disease broke out during the last week of October in northern areas of Sindh province that were hit by floods in August and September.
Children between the ages of two and nine years were affected.
Health officials said that over 1,200 measles-affected children have been shifted to hospitals since November.
They said the major reasons behind such a massive spread of the disease were malnutrition and unhygienic conditions in which the affected kids were living.
Most of the affected children were living together in congested streets and were passing the disease to other children, a senior health official was quoted as saying.
Families of the affected children said stagnant rain water was still present in their surroundings even after three months since the floods hit the province.
The Sindh health ministry said an anti-measles vaccination drive has been launched in the affected areas. Around 130,000 children have been vaccinated so far.
This is the second major outbreak of the disease in Sindh this year. In June, the World Health Organization said that 27 children under five years died due to measles in the province.