Oral cholera vax debuts, 50k to be immunised in 10 days
Times of India | 24 October 2024
123 Kolkata: Oral cholera vaccine (OCV) is being introduced at the community level in Bengal, one of the first for any state to take up such a project. Under a collaboration between ICMR-NIRBI (National Institute for Research in Bacterial Diseases) formerly NICED and the state health department, a pilot project was launched on Tuesday in Bishnupur block II of South 24 Parganas, a cholera vulnerable pocket, using Euvichol-Plus, a Korea-made vaccine.
The target for the pilot project is to vaccinate around 50,000 individuals during the next 10 days after which they will get the second dose. All the vaccinated will be followed up for two years to assess the vaccine's immunogenicity and longevity.
"WHO's Global Task Force on Cholera Control has declared elimination of cholera by 2030. ICMR-NIRBI is a partner and a WHO collaborating centre. This is the first time ORV is introduced in the community in the country. The West Bengal govt state health officials have given us full support to carry out this pilot project which is happening only in Bengal," said ICMR-NIRBI director Shanta Dutta.
NIRBI had conducted a recent serology study to assess the most vulnerable states and identified Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra with the highest number of cholera outbreaks in descending order.
"On the first day we had 5,034 individuals taking the first dose. Cholera is still rampant in vulnerable pockets. We are supporting this pilot project with manpower and sensitisation," said public health specialist Mukti Sadhan Maity, CMOH, South 24 Parganas. To be given in two doses in a gap of 14 days, those who are one year and above, apart from pregnant and lactating women can take the vaccine. The state govt is deploying house to house as well as booth vaccination through ASHA and ICDS workers under supervision of ICMR-NIRBI and state health authorities.
"Around 62 antibiotic resistant cholera outbreaks were reported in India between 2009 and 2017 of which 2/3 cases were from Bengal, Maharashtra, Odisha and Delhi," said NIRBI scientist Suman Kanungo.