Indore: DPT vaccination campaign from August 16

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Aiming to inoculate children against DPT (Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis), the district administration and health department will run a campaign from August 16 to August 31.

The campaign will be run in schools across the state during which students of classes one, five, and ten will be inoculated against these bacterial diseases.

According to District Immunization Officer Dr Tarun Gupta, they have a target of vaccinating about two lakh children in the district by administering DPT (Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) and TD- booster doses for tetanus and diphtheria vaccines.

“It would be a statewide campaign to administer DPT vaccine to the children of class one and TD (booster dose) to the children of class 5th and 10th. The campaign is also meant to target students of the age group of 10 and 16 years along with five years of age as some cases were reported in higher age groups as well,” he said.

The health department has asked the school education department to provide data on the students enrolled in these classes while also planning to inform parents about the same to get their consent.

Three vaccine formulations are available to protect against these diseases. DPT vaccine is given to children 6 weeks to 6 years of age to protect them from all 3 illnesses. It is given at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15-18 months, and 4-6 years.

The department will also target vaccinating dropout students with the doses of these bacterial diseases after vaccinating the children going to school.