BMC Provides Free Pneumococcal Vaccines to Kids in Mumbai

Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) will be provided by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) which safeguards children under the age of one year from pneumonia and other pneumococcal diseases. The vaccine will be available free of cost in all civic-run dispensaries, clinics, and hospitals. The beneficiaries of this vaccine will be 1.5 lakh kids below one year of age, residing in the city of Mumbai.  

 

To start the drive more efficiently the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has started the training for the concerned staff and creating awareness at the regional level. To distribute vaccines, syringes and other supplies arrangements are being done. 

After all the arrangements are done direct vaccination for children will commence. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation states that the PCV vaccine will be provided in three doses- at the age of 6 weeks two primary doses, at 14 weeks, and nine months of age a booster dose. 

 

The vaccination is against BCG, Polio, Whooping cough, Tetanus, Hepatitis- B, H-Influenza B, Rotavirus, Measles, Rubella. Another vaccine has been added to the list of the vaccination drive as per the directions of the State Government. In the year 2010, the pneumococcal disease killed around 1 lakh children under the age of five in India.

 

Then five to six lakh children all over the country were detected to have pneumonia in the same year. The cause of this is the bacterium Streptococcus pneumonia which is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Pneumococcal, a type of lung infection. The symptoms of this disease include difficulty in breathing, shortness of breath, high fever, and cough in children. Serious infection can lead to death which is caused by meningitis, pneumonia, and septicaemia.