Got a notice from the school of my child in Gurgaon regarding vaccine drive for MR vaccine. It mentions single dose of MR vaccine to be given to all kids in the age 9 months to 15 years.
My daughter already got 2 dose of MMR vaccine as per schedule. Do I need to get her MR or should say no?
Please go ahead and cooperate with school in getting the vaccination done if your child is absolutely healthy and is not suffering from high fever and is not allergic to neomycin, gelatin or other components of vaccine. Child should also not be suffering from any immunocompromised condition and should not be on steroids.
This dose is given to boost the immunity of kids against Measles and Rubella. Rationale behind this campaign and repeating the dose even if child has been vaccinated earlier is to ensure elimination of transmission of Measles and Rubella viruses from the whole community by providing free vaccination to all the children (100%). Schools are chosen to drive the cause for the obvious reason to get hold of majority of kids. Earlier campaigns in 2002 and 2009 were successful in eliminating measles from western hemisphere and indigenous rubella respectively.
Be assured that the vaccine being given in the campaign is produced in India and is WHO prequalified. It has been used in the routine immunisation programme of India and in many neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Myanmar.
No serious problems have known to be associated with the vaccine with only mild side effects like low fever and mild rash following administration of MR vaccine.
If safety of the vaccination procedure, expiry date of the vaccine and storage equipment used during the campaign bothers you. First verify all these things at school and give consent only if you are comfortable. For your information some important things to note are:
#MR vaccine is a freeze dried live vaccine which need to be reconstituted with the diluent and need to be kept at low temp like 2-8 degree centigrade
#It should be used within 4 hours of mixing and discarded after that
You may also opt out of this free drive and get the vaccination done at some private clinic if things don’t look convincing enough at school.
Measles Rubella vaccination drive across India!! Should you vaccinate your child?