Dip in India’s childhood immunisation

  • July 18, 2024
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Dip in India’s childhood immunisation

Subject: Science and tech

Sec: Health   

Context:

In absolute terms, 2.04 million children remained under-vaccinated in 2023, slightly lower than the 2.11 million children in 2019. The “slight” drop is a call to intensify efforts.

More about News:

  • There was a slight dip in childhood immunisation in 2023 compared to 2022, recently released WHO and UNICEF estimates of national immunisation coverage (WUENIC) revealed.
  • There was a two-percentage point dip (from 95% in 2022 to 93% in 2023) in the coverage of the diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DPT) vaccine, used as a proxy for the number of “zero-dose” children.
What is a “zero-dose” children?

  • Zero-dose children are defined as those that lack access to or are never reached by routine immunization services. They are operationally measured as those who did not receive their first dose of DTP, a vaccine containing diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis.
  • This number, however, was much higher than the 87% and 88% DPT coverage seen in 2020 and 2022 respectively, and higher than the 2023 global average of 89%.
  • WUENIC shows that there were 6 million zero-dose children in India in 2023, up from 1.1 million in 2022, but much less than 2.73 million seen in 2021.

What is Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis (DPT)?

  • Diphtheria:
    • Caused by:
      • Diphtheria is primarily caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae.
    • Symptoms:
      • Common cold
      • Fever
      • Chills
      • Swollen gland in neck
      • Sore throat
      • Bluish skin
    • Spread:
      • Coughs and sneezes
      • Close contact with someone infected.
    • Target Population:
      • Diphtheria particularly affects children aged 1 to 5 years.
      • Occurrence of diphtheria cases in under-five children reflects low coverage of primary diphtheria vaccination.
  • Tetanus:
    • Caused by:
    • Through infection of a cut or wound with the spores of the bacterium Clostridium tetani, and most cases occur within 14 days of infection.
    • Tetanus cannot be transmitted from person to person.
    • Prevention:
      • Through immunization with Tetanus-Toxoid-Containing Vaccines (TTCV).
    • Symptoms:
      • Jaw cramping or the inability to open the mouth.
      • Muscle spasms often in the back, abdomen and extremities.
      • Seizures.
  • Pertussis:
    • Caused by:
      • Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis.
      • The disease is most dangerous in infants, and is a significant cause of disease and death in this age group.
    • Spread:
      • From person to person mainly through droplets produced by coughing or sneezing.

DPT vaccine:

  • In 1978, The DPT vaccine was introduced in India as a routine immunization, resulting in a steady decline in incidence in the pediatric population.
  • The need for two booster diphtheria vaccinations and was included under India’s flagship immunization program – “Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) “, under National Health Mission (NHM) , Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India.

DPT Vaccine is for:

The DPT vaccine should be administered at the following ages:

Infant

  • According to UIP and NHM, the primary 3 doses of DPT are given to infants as part of the pentavalent vaccine at 6, 10, and 14-week intervals,

Children

  • Two other DPT booster doses are then given by injection to children between 16-24 months and 6-7 years of age.

Adult

  • Tdap is given for 10 years and thereafter every 10 years, although it is not included in the UIP NHM program.
Dip in India’s childhood immunisation Science and tech