Amidst reports of children falling ill after administration of Measles Rubella (MR) vaccine in some areas of the State, the Director General (DG) of State Health Services, Dr Archana Shrivastav has said that the MR vaccine is totally safe and more than six crore children in different States of the country have been safely vaccinate under the campaign.
The DG who also is a child specialist said that such reports are coming only from very few places. She said that fear from injection among children is common and to remove it some sort of counseling before the vaccination should be done in which positive features of the programme should be informed to them.
This counseling would help in mentally preparing children for the vaccination. Dr Shrivastav said some children might complain about nausea and headache and the parents should not send their kids empty stomach to the school.
The DG undertook a review of the progress of the campaign at state health directorate on Friday. She was informed that more than 5.5 lakh children in the state have been vaccinated in first three days of the campaign. The department officials claim the pace of progress in Almora, Pithoragarh, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Champawat and Bageshwar districts is good as 90 percent of target is being achieved there. In Dehradun district however the campaign is on a slow track.
A month long campaign to vaccinate 2835658 children aged between 9 months to 15 year for Measles and Rubella was launched in the state on October 30.
The government of India has taken a pledge to eliminate Measles by the year 2020. It is worth mentioning here that about every year more than 49000 children in India die due to measles.
For first two weeks the vaccination would be undertaken in the Government and private schools, madarsas and sishu sadans while in the later two weeks the campaign would focus on villages and remote areas. The Government has drawn 62000 employees from different departments for this ambitious programme.
Rubella is commonly referred to as German measles is a mild infection, but can have serious consequences if it occurs in pregnant women. Measles is highly contagious and spreads through coughing. India accounts for 36 percent of the measles death globally. Those who survive are more vulnerable to its complications such as diarrhea and pneumonia.