TAXILA: The death of a one-year-old boy from measles has sparked worries about the presence of the disease in Taxila, and local health authorities are urgently planning an anti-measles drive to curb its spread.

Dr Mohammad Shahid, Medical Superintendent at the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Taxila, told Dawn that around six local children had tested positive for measles, but had been discharged after recovering. One-year-old Inam Ullah, of Mohallah Majawar, was the first death. He died at Holy Family Hospital, in Rawalpindi.

Dr Shahid told reporters that while anti-measles drives had been conducted previously, in response to those six patients, they had been confined to small, targeted areas.

"We use a strategy of eighty houses around the house of the victim," he said. While provincial authorities are busy preparing for dengue season, he said, the Taxila health department will now prepare a plan to combat the spread of measles.

According to health authorities, if Inam Ullah had reached the hospital earlier, he might have survived. Dr Imran Raja, the Holy Family physician who treated him, said that Inam came to the hospital after suffering from fever and cough for six days, and rashes for three days. Because of the severity of his disease, Inam survived only one day of treatment.