(Representative image)Two students of the Arabic College near Perinthalmanna have died of diphtheria. Two others are being treated for the disease.
Diphtheria is a contagious disease thought to have been wiped off from Kerala. This disease can be completely prevented through vaccination. Kerala had eradicated the killer diseases of diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus as part of the universal immunisation programme several years ago.
The tragedies do not augur well for a state which has acclaimed global praise for its success in reducing infant mortality rate to a par with that of the developed countries.
This comes as no surprise though. Kerala has been witnessing an information campaign based on unscientific reasoning against vaccination for the past few years. The deaths in Malappuram district show that these campaigns are affecting backward classes and weaker sections of society the most.
Objections to vaccinations have intensified at a time when they have become safer. Their side effects have been brought down considerably. Recombinant vaccines made with genetic technology are completely risk-free.
The anti-vaccine campaigners are misleading the people by raising baseless allegations that have been disproved by scientific studies. A major argument is that certain chemicals in the vaccines can cause autism in children. Renowned medical journal Lancet had published an article which suggested vaccines can cause autism but the journal later retracted it when it was found that the paper did not have any scientific backing.
Similarly, another charge started doing the rounds that 34 children have died in Kerala after having been administred the pentavalent vaccine intended to prevent tetanus, whooping cough, diphtheria, hepatitis B and haemophilus Influenza type B. A study had proved that there was no connection between these deaths and vaccination but some human rights activists from the state are continuing their propaganda against vaccines in international forums.
A study by Achutha Menon Centre for Health Sciences had shown that only 36 per cent of children in Malappuram district receive vaccines in 2005. The same year, 37 per cent of children were vaccinated even in a state like Rajasthan.
Vaccination coverage in Kerala is getting lower than many other states, according to a recent national family health survey. Predictably, the red flags raised by these reports were ignored.
The Kerala Health Department as well as paediatricians and public health workers should immediately start an awareness campaign against such dissemination of wrong information before any more lives are lost.
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