Chennai: Over two weeks after diphtheria outbreak was reported in Coimbatore, primarily from the Sathyamangalam region, an alert has been sounded in Chennai.
This comes after two suspected cases of diphtheria were reported from Pammal and Seven wells regions in Chennai." There have been two suspected cases of diphtheria in Chennai so far. While we are still awaiting the test results, we have decided to be precautious and are treating these as diphtheria cases. But both the children are stable and recovering, " says Dr K Kolandaisamy, Director of Public Health.
"The situation in Coimbatore has been brought under control," he added. The Institute of Child Health (ICH) reportedly kickstarted mass immunization programmes in schools and anganwadis across Chennai on Thursday. "In all, 5,000 doses have been administered as of now," says Dr Kolandaisamy.
Diphtheria, a bacterial infection caused by Corynebacterium diphtheria, was once widely regarded as a life-threatening disease, especially amongst young children. However, after the introduction of immunization programmes, there was a significant decline in diphtheria related deaths around the world. Though diphtheria exhibits symptoms similar to that of the common cold such as sore throat, fever and weakness it is highly contagious and if left untreated can result in death.
As per the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) in India, all children below one year get three doses of Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (DTP) vaccine. This is followed by two booster doses between the ages of 1-2 years and 5-6 years. Following the sudden surge in the number of diphtheria cases amongst older adults, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) and ministry of health and family welfare have now recommended replacement of TT vaccination by Td (Tetanus and adult diphtheria) vaccines.
