Three new additions to the vaccination basket

Why in news?

• The basket of vaccines in India’s Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) was static for many years — until the entry of the Pentavalent vaccine [Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hepatitis B, and Haemophilus B (HIB)], and Japanese Encephalitis vaccines.
• There have been regular additions to the basket since. Two new vaccines — Measles-Rubella (MR) and Pneumococcal Conjugate — are lined up for launch in January and February respectively, and a third, Rotavirus Vaccine, will become part of the UIP in 5 states — from February.

What is rubella, and why is vaccination for it important?

• More commonly known as German Measles, Congenital Rubella Syndrome, or CRS, is believed to affect about 25,000 children born in India every year.
• Symptoms can include cataracts and deafness, and the disease can also affect the heart and the brain.
• 10-30% of adolescent females and 12-30% of women in the reproductive age-group are susceptible to rubella infection in India.

In which states will the MR vaccine be introduced?

• After its formal launch on January 17, the vaccine will be introduced in Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu around February 3-4.
• The Health Ministry will run a campaign among children aged 9 months to 15 years before making the vaccine a part of routine immunisation. Two shots will be given — one between the ages of 9-12 months, the other at age one-and-a- half.
• The monovalent measles vaccine is already part of the UIP basket of 10 vaccines; it will be discontinued once MR is introduced.

What is Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV)?

• PCV is a mix of several bacteria of the pneumococci family, which are known to cause pneumonia — hence ‘conjugate’ in the name. Pneumonia caused by the pneumococcus bacteria is supposed to be the most common.
• Pneumonia and diarrhoea have long been responsible for the most child deaths in India — approximate estimates say pneumonia is responsible for about 20% of under-5 child mortality in India, of which half are of pneumococcal origin.
• In 2008, the WHO’s Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group reported that 5 countries in which 44% of the world’s children aged less than 5 years live (India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria) contribute more than half of all new pneumonia cases annually.
• It estimated around 43 million pneumonia cases (23% of the global total) and an incidence of 0.37 episodes per child-year for clinical pneumonia in India.

Which states will PCV be introduced?

• In Himachal Pradesh and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from March 17. Three doses will be administered at one-and-a-half months, three-and-a-half months and 9 months.
• The annual incidence of severe pneumococcal pneumonia in India was estimated to be 4.8 episodes per 1,000 children younger than 5 years.
• The top five contributors to India’s pneumococcal pneumonia burden in terms of number of cases and deaths were Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand.

Where will the rotavirus vaccine be introduced?

• Rotavirus infections are the most common cause of diarrhoea in children. The rotavirus vaccine first became a part of UIP in April 2016.
• An estimated 1 lakh children die every year of the disease.
• The vaccine is currently being administered in HP, Haryana, Odisha and AP. From February, it will be a part of UIP also in Assam, Tripura, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Category: Prelims & Mains | GS – II | Health

Source: The Indian Express