Docs urge parents to vaccinate kids
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City pediatricians have raised an alarm on meningitis and have urged parents to get their babies vaccinated against the dreadful bacterial brain fever that has a high mortality rate of 16 to 32 per cent.
“Meningitis , which largely affects children less than 5 years old because of their low immunity, is the inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord because of bacterial infection,” says Dr V. Varadarajan, president of the city’s chapter of Indian Academy of Pediatrics.
“It is worrying because of its high mortality rate and Chennai alone reports around 120 cases every year,” he said at a meeting organised to raise awareness about the disease on World Meningitis Day, observed by WHO on April 24 every year.
The state government launched a new pentavalent vaccine that includes the HiB vaccine to give immunisation against pneumonia and meningitis caused by a strain called Haemophilius Influenza Type B. However, only babies receiving their first shots would get the protection of the combination vaccine.
“Standalone vaccines are available in the private sector, but are expensive,” says Dr P.
Ramachandran, former head of the Institute of Child Health here, where a HiB surveillance project is being conducted.
“Children show prominent symptoms such as high fever, unconsciousness, and sometimes even epileptic fits. Babies may keep on crying incessantly, he added.
and doctors would be able to recognise that the child’s eyes do not focus and are highly sensitive to light,” says Ramachandran.
The high mortality apart, one-third of the children who contract the disease suffer nerve damage and either become retarded or paralysed, he said.
Adults and older children who are traveling to Africa or going on a Hajj pilgrimage are also advised to take the vaccine.
Infants prone to meningitis: Experts
Infectious diseases such as meningitis and pneumonia attack infants because of their low immunity and can prove fatal if not diagnosed and treated on time, said the president of the Central Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP), Dr Rohit C. Agarwal.
Children who are less than five years old come under the high risk category, Dr Agarwal noted in the backdrop of World Meningitis Day.
Health organisations should come together to warn the public about the dangers of meningitis and encourage prevention through vaccination, he said.
The pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that protects children from 13 disease-causing strains and the vaccine for haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) are both available in India and could be the best option for prevention, he said.
Dr. Usha Elango, IAP president, Coimbatore, added that young children have been easy targets because of the low immunity. Despite the appropriate use of antibiotics, the mortality rate has been high in India.
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