MELAKA: The Melaka Health Department has identified 748 at-risk children in the Bukit Rambai area for measles vaccine booster shots.
Its director Datuk Dr Rusdi Abd Rahman said these children are between nine months and seven years old and were identified during a risk assessment exercise following a sudden surge in measles cases here.
"We hope to achieve a desirable result in the ongoing immunisation exercise," he said on Friday (March 3).
Dr Rusdi said the number of cases increased by 175% to 22 cases last year from only eight in 2021.
“For Melaka Tengah district, cases increased from four in 2021 to 15 in last year,” he said.
He said the exercise would initially be conducted in Melaka Tengah district in selected localities in Bukit Rambai and would include census-taking activities.
Information on the importance of booster shots would also be disseminated, he added.
He said infections were detected in Taman Bukit Rambai, Taman Rambai Utama, Taman Rambai Section 2 and Kampung Gedung Lalang.
Dr Rusdi added that the immunisation exercise would also be conducted in Jasin and Alor Gajah districts based on periodic risk assessments.
