Bhubaneswar, July 14: Healthcare experts have spoken in favour of introducing a five-in-one (pentavalent) vaccine in Odisha that would save children from life-threatening diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B and haemophilus influenza type B (Hib).
While states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu have started using the pentavalent vaccine since last December, Haryana, Puducherry, Goa, Karnataka, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir — have introduced the vaccine this year.
However, while eight more states are likely to go for a proposal for the use of the vaccine from next year, Odisha is yet to do that. _States such as Bihar and Bengal also plan to include the pentavalent vaccine in their immunisation protocol.
Mathuram Santosham, a paediatrics professor at Johns Hopkins University, USA, told The Telegraph: “The three state (Odisha, Bihar and Bengal) governments must use the experience of Kerala and Tamil Nadu so that more children can be saved from diseases such as pneumonia and meningitis. India already tops in the number of deaths every year because of pneumonia in the world. Odisha also has a high infant mortality rate.”
Though the country has emerged as one of the major producer of vaccines in the world with five companies manufacturing and exporting vaccines here to save children , pentavalent vaccines are still not used by state-run healthcare delivery systems because of lack of experience and exposure.
The most important job of the pentavalent vaccine is to fight Hib, a bacterium that causes pneumonia, meningitis and other diseases in children below five .
“Hib can make the child suffer from long-term neurological problems after treatment such as deafness, brain damage and coordination-related problems leading to epilepsy,” said Santosham, who is also the director of the Centre for American Indian Health.
Odisha health and family welfare secretary Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra has requested all senior police officers not to initiate cases in haste in case of any eventuality arising out of immunisation programmes undertaken in the state, as children often suffer from complications because of hyper-sensitivity.
“Instead of harassing the healthcare personnel, wait for a departmental inquiry and then take action,” Mohapatra told police officers.
