A measles outbreak began in Kailash Nagar, a densely populated neighborhood in Delhi’s eastern district, in February 2026. The first confirmed case was an eight-month-old girl who developed a high fever on February 21, followed by a widespread rash. Her parents sought treatment at the Maharishi Valmiki Infectious Diseases Hospital, where laboratory tests confirmed measles. The hospital immediately notified the district immunization office, which began investigating the outbreak.
Accredited Social Health Workers (ASHA), frontline health workers and a team supported by WHO visited the area to identify suspected cases. Samples were collected from four children who showed symptoms of fever and rash, two of whom had measles, confirming the outbreak.
Measles It is a highly contagious disease that spreads through an infected person’s coughing, sneezing, or breathing. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, and rash. The measles and rubella (MR) vaccine provides effective protection, while vitamin A supplements help prevent serious complications among infected children.
Over the past year, WHO strengthened its surveillance capacity by training more than 50 medical officers, 80 nurse-midwives and 500 auxiliary nurses through workshops and field mentoring. During house-to-house investigations covering 450 families, government teams, with support from the World Health Organization, were able to identify additional cases of measles and unvaccinated children. As health teams conducted house-to-house surveillance through the neighborhood’s narrow lanes, a deeper challenge emerged. Repeated migration and vaccine hesitancy have created pockets of vulnerable children, allowing the virus to spread. Recurring vacancies in the position of Director General of the Department exacerbated the challenges, resulting in operational gaps.
Planning and coordination meeting at the Anganwadi Surveillance and Response Center for the suspected measles cluster (© WHO India/Virendra Singh)
The response quickly evolved beyond controlling the outbreak. District health authorities, frontline workers and WHO teams focused on rebuilding community confidence and restoring confidence in vaccination services. Faith healers and local influencers were made aware of and reported on measles symptoms. Advertisements in places of worship encouraged families to attend vaccination sessions, while NGOs and frontline workers intensified outreach efforts among hesitant families. “This is a specific group of families who are hesitant to get the vaccine,” said Dr. Veena Verma, District Immunization Officer (East). “It is important to conduct regular awareness sessions with religious leaders to convince hesitant families to vaccinate their children.”
Health workers and frontline workers are committing huge hours to enhance micro planning and increase vaccination coverage through community engagement. Following intensified awareness and deployment of more immunization directorates, there has been clear progress – vaccination coverage during outbreak response activities increased from 8% to 51%. Seven additional routine immunization sessions were organized in Kailash Nagar, where 162 children were provided with vaccines and vitamin A supplements.
Sustaining these gains will require sustained community engagement, strengthening frontline health capacities, and regular immunization outreach to reach migrant and vaccine-hesitant families. “After all these efforts, even if I manage to save one life, I will believe that my life purpose has been achieved,” said Aarti, the ANM who is currently holding additional charge of Kailash Nagar.
