DHO scotches rumours of measles-rubella vaccine

 District Health Officer (DHO) Dr B Basavaraju on Wednesday dispelled all rumours of measles and rubella vaccine causing any side-effects to children or that of the vaccine being a ploy to check the population of a particular community.

He urged parents and guardians of children below 15 years not to worry about the false propaganda about mass immunisation for measles and rubella.

The DHO told reporters here that a few anti-social elements were spreading false rumours about a few children developing uneasiness following the vaccination. “None of the children developed any health issue after vaccination. As many as 75,000 children in 112 schools across the district were vaccinated on day one and all are doing fine,” he said.

A few miscreants circulated rumours saying that vaccination drive was a ploy to check the population of a particular community. A few parents in areas like Shanti Nagar, Ghousia Nagar and Kyathmaranahalli opposed the vaccination.

Authorities have listed out 7,95,788 children to be vaccinated and 628 teams constituted comprising a vaccinator, data entry operator, marker and a schoolteacher. “Mass vaccination will be carried out in all the 3,078 schools across the district till February 28. Authorities will cover all the children to achieve 100% result. The campaign would first cover schools and will be extended to anganwadis later,” he said.

“The team members have been instructed to accord priority to hygiene and safety of children. The department has provided auto-disable syringes for vaccination and thus it cannot be reused. Of the 1.50 lakh newborn babies, 150 suffer from rubella. A child with the disease suffers brain, heart, eyesight, hearing problem and other problems,” Dr Basavaraju said.

The DHO said that the authorities have approached religious heads and have asked them to educate their community people about the vaccination. Mysuru Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI) Dean and Director Dr B Krishnamurthy, Dr Gopalakrishna and Dr Ranappa were also present.