Vaccinations are essential preventive medicines, which have greatly reduced infant mortality rate. India has been proud to be polio-free because of government policies to make the polio vaccination essential for every child under five years of age.
However, there is now a plethora of vaccinations available and this post is an attempt to the guide the parents to make a good choice. Here are the facts:
1. Manufacturers claim efficacy figures (say, 85% with one dose or 93% with two doses etc.) and also report side effect figures (say, 1 in 10000 patients report a side effect). These figures are not easily understood by the consumer into their own context.
2. Vaccinations are effective only if more than 85% of a large sample set (e.g. an entire nation) benefits from taking the vaccination over a long period of time. (For example, if a vaccination was tested on only 200 people claims an efficacy of 90% for one year, it does not mean anything). They are not individual treatment drugs (except the Rabies vaccination).
3. The usual cry of "if you can afford it, why not take it?" is fraudulent method of pushing non-essential expensive (and in many cases, inadequately tested) vaccines to rich parents. The immunization acquired due to large-scale immunization (called "herd immunization") cannot be achieved by immunization of a select few of the population.
4. Vaccinations are drugs, and require a clinical trial. The only licensing authority in India is the Drug Controller General of India(DCGI). Imported vaccinations also need to be re-licensed by the DCGI. "WHO Prequalification" is NOT an adequate license to sell in India.
5. Ministry of Health (Government of India) is the only authority that notifies inclusion of a vaccinations in the Indian Immunization Programmes. In case of epidemics like Swine Flu, please visit a government hospital. Do not blindly take individual vaccination. A few months ago, there was much hue and cry about a swine flu breakout. Many of those cases turned out to be common cold/ flu. The only beneficiary of this public scare were the vaccine manufacturers, who got rid of their near-expiry stock.
In conclusion, please stick to the immunization schedule listed by the health ministry. Mission Indradhanush lists the seven vaccinations which are absolutely essential : diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles, HIB and hepatitis B. In addition to these, tetanus and rabies vaccinations may be administered in case of accidents and mammal bites respectively. Do not fall prey to powerful MNCs pushing unnecessary expensive vaccinations under the garb of philanthropy. Exclusive breastfeeding is proven to boost immunity against many types of pneumonia and against many viruses and bacteria that cause diarrhoea, leading to the hypothesis that breastfed children may not require a rotavirus vaccination.
Update: GOI has announced four more vaccinations to included in Indradanush programme soon.
However, there is now a plethora of vaccinations available and this post is an attempt to the guide the parents to make a good choice. Here are the facts:
1. Manufacturers claim efficacy figures (say, 85% with one dose or 93% with two doses etc.) and also report side effect figures (say, 1 in 10000 patients report a side effect). These figures are not easily understood by the consumer into their own context.
2. Vaccinations are effective only if more than 85% of a large sample set (e.g. an entire nation) benefits from taking the vaccination over a long period of time. (For example, if a vaccination was tested on only 200 people claims an efficacy of 90% for one year, it does not mean anything). They are not individual treatment drugs (except the Rabies vaccination).
3. The usual cry of "if you can afford it, why not take it?" is fraudulent method of pushing non-essential expensive (and in many cases, inadequately tested) vaccines to rich parents. The immunization acquired due to large-scale immunization (called "herd immunization") cannot be achieved by immunization of a select few of the population.
4. Vaccinations are drugs, and require a clinical trial. The only licensing authority in India is the Drug Controller General of India(DCGI). Imported vaccinations also need to be re-licensed by the DCGI. "WHO Prequalification" is NOT an adequate license to sell in India.
5. Ministry of Health (Government of India) is the only authority that notifies inclusion of a vaccinations in the Indian Immunization Programmes. In case of epidemics like Swine Flu, please visit a government hospital. Do not blindly take individual vaccination. A few months ago, there was much hue and cry about a swine flu breakout. Many of those cases turned out to be common cold/ flu. The only beneficiary of this public scare were the vaccine manufacturers, who got rid of their near-expiry stock.
In conclusion, please stick to the immunization schedule listed by the health ministry. Mission Indradhanush lists the seven vaccinations which are absolutely essential : diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles, HIB and hepatitis B. In addition to these, tetanus and rabies vaccinations may be administered in case of accidents and mammal bites respectively. Do not fall prey to powerful MNCs pushing unnecessary expensive vaccinations under the garb of philanthropy. Exclusive breastfeeding is proven to boost immunity against many types of pneumonia and against many viruses and bacteria that cause diarrhoea, leading to the hypothesis that breastfed children may not require a rotavirus vaccination.
Update: GOI has announced four more vaccinations to included in Indradanush programme soon.
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