THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Hotel owners and health experts are less than enthusiastic about the government’s insistence on typhoid vaccination for food handlers in the state. Hotel owners are on edge as they feel migrant labourers reluctant to get the jab would leave, while the experts feel vaccines serve little purpose in improving public health.
“Several workers are reluctant to get jabbed and may leave if we insist on vaccination, leading to manpower shortage. The decision should be discussed before implementation. Even experts have said mass vaccination is unnecessary,” said G Jayapal, president of the Kerala Hotel & Restaurant Association (KHRA).
Typhoid fever is a bacterial disease spread by drinking or eating contaminated water or food. Health Minister Veena George said the vaccine is mandatory for people taking health cards under the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011. The decision will impact around 25 lakh handlers.
The health card initiative was launched in the wake of food poisoning cases in Kerala. There were also complaints that some private pharmacies were hoarding cheaper vaccine variants, available for Rs 200 per dose, to sell more expensive versions (conjugate vaccine) for Rs 2,000 per dose.
Though the government intervened to prevent the hoarding of cheaper vaccines by making them available through their Karunya pharmacies, experts are apprehensive about mass vaccination. While welcoming the government’s intervention to ensure the availability of the cheaper vaccine variant, experts also highlighted the lack of studies to establish the need for the typhoid vaccine to improve public health. According to them, awareness about contamination and how food is handled should be more important than thrusting a mass vaccination on people with little evidence.
“The vaccine can prevent typhoid severity in food handlers. But they can still spread the infection. There is not much data to back this policy decision. All we know is that the role of personal health in contributing to food contamination is only negligible. So the mass vaccination has little contribution in improving public health,” said Dr Purushothaman Kuzhikkathukandiyil, professor of paediatrics at MES Medical College, Malappuram.
Fewer studies on carrier rate
There are few studies in Kerala on the carrier rate and contribution of carriers in causing typhoid, said an expert. “Creating awareness on cleanliness and hygiene has a more lasting impact on improving public health,” he said.