A high-level panel of the Health Ministry has recommended introduction of the Pentavalent vaccine, which is being pushed as a replacement for the DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus) vaccine for infants, across the country. This comes even as the Supreme Court awaits a report from the Government on a PIl seeking its ban and divergent views have emerged in the medical fraternity on its safety aspect.
Presently, the vaccine is being introduced in a phased manner under the Government’s Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi as suggested by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).
However, the panel which advises on the UIP, on September 23, 2013 after a detailed deliberation approved expansion of the Pentavalent vaccine across the country along with activities to monitor its potential adverse events.
Dr NK Ganguly former Director-General of the Indian Council for Medical Research welcomed the move and said, “The national scaleup of the Pentavalent vaccine, which simultaneously provides protection against the five life threatening diseases — Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B and Hib will help in reducing the number of shots a child receives from nine to three.”
Pneumonia is one of the leading causes for deaths in children below the age of five years. Availability of the pentavalent vaccine through the UIP will help prevent morbidity associated with pneumonia and meningitis, said Dr Jacob John, former Professor at Christian Medical College, Vellore.
The PIl filed by Dr Yogesh Jain in the Supreme Court has alleged that the vaccine had serious side-effects and its use without standard safety tests resulted in death of 21 children.
“The vaccine was launched for a limited, yearlong trial in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Soon after initiation in State units, infant deaths were reported. At least 21 deaths have been reported in India. Experts estimate that many deaths have gone unreported. In reality, the disease burdens of Hib (haemophilus influenzae Type-B) and Hepatitis-B in India are so low that deaths from the vaccine outnumber lives saved from disease,” contended the petition.
On September 3, the Supreme Court asked the Government to file its response within four weeks. It even issued notice to Pentavalent vaccine’s manufacturer, Serum Institute (Pune).
Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, on behalf of Dr Jain pleaded that the use of vaccine should be stopped in the country as it has already been banned in various countries, including the US, Japan, Pakistan, Sri lanka and others.
The vaccine was first introduced in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in 2011 and 21 children, who were administered with it, have died so far in India, the petitioner alleged.