Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) has said that there is a child suspected of having measles admitted at the hospital.

Media Official of IGMH told One Online moments ago that it took time to confirm to verify the information.

According to the Media Official of the hospital, the patient is a 17-year-old boy and has been quarantined for treatment. And while samples have been collected for testing and verification, the results have not yet arrived.

One Online has learned that the child was admitted at the hospital in the late evening yesterday with severe symptoms.

Although the patient has been in treatment since last night, when One Online contacted the Health Ministry this morning, the Ministry said that they cannot “technically” comment without looking into it. Before that, the Ministry said that an announcement will be made via Twitter.

Sources have told One Online that the patient is a student in senior secondary school and did attend school yesterday. However, this information is yet to be verified by a second source. When One Online contacted the Principal of the patient’s school, the Principal said that neither the Health Ministry nor any other authority have informed them so far.

While a second patient has been discovered, Measles is a disease that spreads exceptionally fast. Even if the patient left an area, the threat of contraction remains for an hour or so.

Measles was eradicated from the Maldives in 2007 and received an award from the World Health Organization in the same year.

And while measles vaccinations are given to children born in the country, there has been cases of children without vaccination as of late.

The last measles patient was released of IGMH after treatment a day ago. A statement from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) said that the child had not completed the measles vaccination process.