BENGALURU: In a first, Karnataka will introduce Measles-rubella vaccine along with Tamilnadu, Pondicherry, Goa and Lakshadweep in a bid to eliminate measles and rubella in the region.
The first phase of the programme will witness the routine immunisation procedure i.e. the two doses of Measles vaccine administered at nine to 12 months age and 16-23 months age replaced by combined Measles Rubella (MR) vaccine from February.
Before the introduction of this combined MR vaccine, a campaign will be conducted in which all children between nine months to 15 years will be administered the vaccine. During three weeks of the campaign, all children will receive one injection each, even if they have received been vaccinated before for the disease. State Health and Family Welfare Department targets to cover at least 95 per cent of the children for the complete elimination of the disease in the region.
The campaign will be conducted all over Karnataka during February. Sessions have to be conducted in all schools, all Anganwadi centers, all villages, towns, and mohallas. The focus will also be to cover all migratory children especially children of laborers at slums, construction sites, and brick factories, a health department official said.
It may be noted that Karnataka is the only State in India which has initiated case-based Measles Rubella surveillance since October 2nd this year.
Measles is a highly infectious disease which leads to a significant number of deaths among children below five years in India. “Under case-based surveillance system, every single suspected case is being investigated and lab confirmed without waiting for an outbreak to occur. This will help in tracking Measles virus and result in further decline of morbidity and mortality associated with the disease, said Shalini Rajneesh, principal secretary, health department.
Despite children having been administered Measles vaccine in government hospitals or MMR vaccine at private pediatrician previously, the MR vaccine should be administered again during the campaign, said the official.
The efficacy of Measles vaccine is 85 per cent if taken at nine-12 months age and 95 per cent efficacy if taken after one year of age. So, there is a possibility that a small number of children five-15 per cent might not have developed immunity even after taking the vaccine before. This additional dose during the campaign is expected to give immunity to those children.
Challenges
However, a major challenge that this campaign faces is the shortage of auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM). “Since this vaccine is an injectable and cannot be given orally, we have to rely on ANMs to administer it. Some ANMs have to look after 1.25 lakh children,” said a health department official. For instance in Bengaluru, the State capital, only one ANM is available to track the maternal health of 30,000 population. The ideal ratio is 1:10,000.