BENGALURU: In an effort to prevent diarrhoea deaths, free rotavirus vaccination for children under the age of one have been rolled out in the state. The programme that was launched by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa intends to curb mortality rates among children under five years old, that currently stands at 21 per 1,000 births.
The new vaccines are part of intensive immunisation drive across India, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised total immunisation for 90 per cent infants by 2020.
The vaccine, that costs around Rs 600 a dose in private healthcare facilities, will be given free of cost to all infants at the age of six, 10 and 14 weeks along with the other Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).
It will be provided at all government hospitals, medical colleges, urban dispensaries, primary health centres, community health centres, subcentres and outreach session sites.
Rotavirus, a highly contagious virus, is the most common organism that causes severe diarrhoea and death among children under the age of five. As per a 2013 position paper of the World Health Organisation (WHO), “Rotavirus transmission occurs primarily by the faecal-oral route, directly from person to person, or indirectly via contaminated fomites, and the virus can live for hours on hand and even longer on hard surfaces”.
Rotavirus diarrhoea has an incubation period of one to three days. “The symptoms are sudden onset of watery stools, often accompanied by fever and vomiting and abdominal pain. It may result in dehydration, shock and even death,” Dr Rajani added.