MR CAMPAIGN GOING AT A FAST PACE COVERS 2.56 LAKH CHILDREN IN LUDHIANA

TO COVER TOTAL 12.55 LAKH CHILDREN IN LUDHIANA

LUDHIANA, MAY 15, 2017: The health department has vaccinated 2.56 lakh children aged between 9 months to less than 15 years under Measles-Rubella campaign.

Civil Surgeon Ludhiana Dr Parvinder Pal Singh Sidhu said that an estimated 12.55 lakh children will be vaccinated in Ludhiana.

He revealed that already three phases of MR vaccination Campaign have been completed in 13 states covering around 7-8 crore children with this vaccine safely while Punjab is being covered in Phase 4.

Sidhu said that Auto-disable syringes are used for vaccination of each child. These syringes are rendered non-usable after a single use. All the vaccinators are highly skilled health workers who administer vaccinations to the children in routine immunization in large numbers regularly following the best injection and waste disposal practices.

District Immunization Officer (DIO) Dr Jasbir Singh said that. 488 vaccination teams and 163 supervisors have been deployed to cover about 2989 schools conducting nearly 4656 vaccination sessions in the district.

Singh said that Rubella is also another infectious yet mild viral illness affecting both children and adults that can cause death and disabilities in the new-born if an unprotected pregnant woman gets infected with rubella virus in early pregnancy.

He further said that it also has the potential to cause abortions, stillbirths and severe birth defects known as congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), including deafness and blindness in the new-born child.

He stated that the Goal of MR campaign is to accelerate population immunity by reaching 100 percent target children with MR vaccine that will reduce cases and deaths from measles and disabilities from Congenital Rubella Syndrome.