largest vaccination campaign against virus that kills 80,000 children each year
The Government will soon kick off an extensive two-year drive against killer Rubella virus (German measles) by vaccinating over 45 crore children in the age group of nine months to 15 years. The drive will be three times bigger than the polio campaign which covered 17 crore children.
After the completion of the nationwide vaccination drive, Rubella vaccine, which is presently available in the private sector, will be included under the Government’s Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) for regular vaccination of children up to the age of two years. Rubella virus is responsible for the death of nearly 80,000 children each year in the country.
last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the introduction of four new vaccines against Rubella, Rotavirus, Japanese encephalitis and polio (injectable) under the UIP. “We are yet to decide the date of launch of the campaign that will cover children between the age group of nine months and 15 years across the country. Extensive preparations are on. We are sure local companies will be able to meet the requirement of the vaccines for the drive,” said the official.
Under the UIP, children up to two years are regularly vaccinated. “First dose (injection) will be given to infants between the age group of nine to 12 months and second dose between 16 and 24 months. The vaccine gives 99 per cent results,” said the official.
Mostly infants are affected by Rubella, but when it attacks pregnant women, the virus causes severe congenital defects such as blindness, deafness and heart defects in newborns. It is estimated that nearly two lakh babies are born with congenital defects each year in the country. Rubella primarily affects the fetus if the mother is infected in the first three months of pregnancy.
The official said that the intensive surveillance of Rubella virus disease, whose symptoms are like that of measles, was initiated in 2012 when from 11 States 1,200 cases of Rubella and 3,300 cases of measles were reported. In the following years, the Rubella cases stood at 3,000 against 7,770 cases of measles in 15 States. These are all WHO credited lab confirmed cases, he added. From 2015, we will have cases reported from all the States, the official said.
Usually, Rubella virus strikes in winter and spring and causes slight fever and rashes on face and neck. When teenagers or adults get the disease, they suffer from swollen glands in the back of the neck and arthritis-like symptoms in the joints. It spreads from person to person through the air, by coughing, sneezing or breathing. The incubation period of Rubella virus is 14 days, with a range of 12-23 days, the official added.