Vaccination must to prevent pneumococcal disease’

Vaccination must to prevent pneumococcal disease’

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Nov 10, 2016: It is reported that IAP, Indian Academy of Pediatrics Dakshina Kannada chapter president Dr Ananth Pai said vaccination is an important precautionary measure for prevention against pneumococcal disease caused by vaccine serotypes in children below five years.

Though WHO has recommended inclusion of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV 13) in the national immunisation programmes as a priority in countries such as India, the Union Government is likely to include vaccine against pneumonia in the immunisation programme in the near future. The IAP has already mooted this proposal to the Union Government.

Stating that vaccination is recommended for children at high risk, Dr Pai said the vaccination helps preventing the disease from spreading and hospital stay. There is also a need for national pneumococcal disease surveillance to increase awareness and alleviate the pediatric pneumonia burden in the country, he added.

He said respiratory tract infections constitute around 40% of hospital admissions in Mangaluru. India is one of the five countries contributing to the 44% of the world’s pneumonia cases in the world. Inspite of precautionary steps, pneumonia continues to be a common cause of mortality among children below five years in the country.