Kenya will this month conduct a nationwide campaign to immunise children below 14 against measles, which has already killed at least seven children this year.

In total, about 14.6 million children aged between 9 months and 14 years are expected to receive the measles vaccine during the campaign, to be conducted in the third week of June in all primary schools and health centres.

Kenyan health authorities say that the unprecedented campaign is intended to nip a resurgence of the disease in the bud. In 2001, according to Prof Sam Ongeri, Kenya's Minister for Public Health, a total of 182 outbreaks were reported, with more than 11,000 people affected. Nine deaths were attributed to the disease that year.

This year, at least 5,000 cases and seven deaths have already been reported by the Ministry of Health, indicating that outbreaks are on the rise. 80 per cent of those affected by the disease so far have been children below 15, who comprise the most vulnerable group.

Health experts, including those from the ministry health, attribute the resurgence of measles in the country to falling immunisation coverage over the past decade, which has seen vaccination levels against the six childhood killers, including measles, fall to 60 per cent from about 85 per cent in the 1980s.

Critics say that the fall in immunisation coverage has been occasioned by poor planning by the Ministry of Health and the withdrawal of donor support to vaccination programmes. 

Currently, measles coverage in Kenya is estimated at 76 per cent for children aged below 15, down from about 88 per cent a decade ago. 

"Although commendable, a 76 per cent coverage is inadequate to bring measles under control," a ministry of health statement acknowledged recently. "Coverage of at least 95 per cent is required."

During this month's immunisation campaign, Kenyan authorities say they will use a single-dose vaccine with 85 per cent effectiveness. In addition, every child will receive a vitamin A supplement following a recent survey that showed that up to 40 per cent of all Kenyan school children are deficient in the vitamin. Vitamin A is critical for the working of the immune system, and will boost the effectiveness of the vaccine.

The campaign, which is supported by the World Health Organisation, Unicef, United Nations' Foundation, and the American Centres for Disease Control (CDC), will target both children who have received the measles vaccine before and those who haven't, as well as those who have suffered from the disease.

This is necessary, Prof Ongeri said, because a measles attack can recur and booster shots are needed to prevent this. Vaccination of older children who have already received the vaccine will also be necessary because research shows that they are the reservoirs of the measles virus that causes outbreaks in younger children. 

"The extra dose during the campaign will act as a booster dose, especially during these times of frequent outbreaks," Prof Ongeri said. 

Measles is a highly infectious disease that can cause a number of serious life-threatening conditions, including pneumonia, heart disease and brain damage.

The disease is usually more serious in children, although recently observed trends indicate that immunologically compromised people, such as those with advanced HIV infection, are also at high risk.