Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala government will begin vaccinating infants against meningitis and pneumonia from next month.
Announcing the decision here on Saturday, Minister for Health Veena George said three doses of the recently introduced pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) will be administered to children aged 1.5 months, 3.5 months and nine months, as part of the universal immunisation programme.
PCV is used to inoculate infants, young children and adults against pneumococcal disease. Minister George said medical officers and other health workers were now being trained to administer the vaccine.
Expensive treatment
It has been established that pneumococcal pneumonia -- aggravated lung infection -- has been a major cause of deaths of children below five. Cough with phlegm, fever, rapid/difficulty in breathing, chest pain are its major symptoms.
If aggravated, the patient will have difficulty in having food and water. The treatment is expensive.