A survey has found that three of the four children aged 25-36 months in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur division had received at least one dose of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine while the coverage of second dose of JE vaccine was comparatively low.
The researchers have attributed it to failure of the vaccinators to administer vaccination simultaneously during the Universal Immunization Programme wherein the JE vaccine is co-administered along with measles and DPT vaccine.
Two doses of JE vaccine (first during 9-12 months and second during 16-24 months of age) are administered under the UIP.
However, though the parents had come with their kids to get the measles and DPT vaccines, amongst the children eligible to receive JE vaccine, those who did not receive JE vaccine on the day of survey were considered as missed opportunity (MoV).
MoV is defined as 'any situation in which an eligible child has contact with a health facility, but he/she is not administered an indicated vaccine, despite not having contraindications.
To estimate the coverage of JE vaccine and magnitude of missed opportunity for vaccination (MoV) for JE in the Gorakhpur division, which happens to be Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's constituency, the researchers had surveyed a total 840 children, 210 each in its four districts --Deoria, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar and Maharajganj--between May and August 2015.
Mother of kids aged 25-36 months were interviewed about JE vaccination. It was found that the coverages of one and two doses of JE vaccine in the division was 75 per cent and 42.3 per cent respectively. Facility-based exit survey indicated that 32.7 per cent of the eligible children missed JE vaccine.
The researchers concluded that training vaccinators about correct vaccination schedule and removing their misconception about administering vaccines simultaneously would substantially improve JE vaccine coverage in Gorakhpur.
The survey is published in the latest edition of the Health Ministry's journal, Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR).
The researchers included Manoj V Murhekar, Chinmay Oak, K Kanagasabai, Satish Shinde, and Sanjay M Mehendale from Chennai based ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Prashant Ranjan from Uttar Pradesh's Department of Health, Ashok Kumar Pandey and Milind Gore from ICMR-National Institute of Virology in Gorakhpur and Mahima Mittal from Department of Pediatrics, BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur.
It was in 2005, when subsequent to a major outbreak of JE in Eastern UP including in Gorakhpur that resulted in recording more than 6000 cases and 1500 deaths, the Government had introduced JE vaccination with other vaccines in phased manner starting from 2006.