With the addition of MR vaccine in regular list, children will be immunized with the vaccines against 10 types of diseases. The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) said that children in developed countries get vaccines against 33 types of diseases. [break]
Amidst the function held at ministry on Monday, Minister for Health and Population Vidyadhar Mallik declared that the vaccine has been included in the routine list. He said that the vaccine is included in regular schedule as per the government policy to introduce additional vaccines against the diseases that have high mortality rate. "Instead of only measles vaccine, children aged between nine months and two years would be given the MR vaccine from next Saturday," said Mallik. Officials at the ministry said that the government targets to eliminate the disease by 2015 as per its commitment to the international community.
According to MoHP, every year over 1,400 children get disabled by the rubella infection. Out of the total number of pregnant women, more than 10 percent get infected with rubella virus, the CHD says.
Rubella is an infection that affects the skin and lymph nodes. Doctors say Rubella in pregnant women can cause congenital rubella syndrome which have potentially devastating consequences in the development of babies. Children who are infected with rubella before birth are at risk of mental retardation, malformations of the heart and eyes, deafness and liver, spleen, and bone marrow problems. Measles is also an infectious virus that spreads through body fluids.
The Child Health Division (CHD) under Department of Health Services (DoHS) claimed that the replacement vaccine will curb current infection rate of both measles and rubella virus. Last year the CHD had administered the vaccine to over 10 million children over nine months to 15 years.
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