Coimbatore: Paediatric doctors in Coimbatore city have urged the Union govt to include the mumps vaccine in the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) along with the measles and rubella (MR) vaccine.
Under the UIP in Tamil Nadu, 11 vaccines are administered to children and pregnant women to protect against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases—tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, hepatitis B, haemophilus influenzae, tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles, rubella, rotavirus, and pneumococcal infections. However, the mumps component was removed from the UIP schedule in 2020. Despite this, private hospitals continue to include the mumps vaccine in their immunisation programmes.
Paediatric doctors have pointed out that mumps cases are still being reported in clinics and hospitals, indicating that the disease was not eliminated.
“We see cases of mumps among children every week. The viral infection primarily affects the salivary glands and spreads through droplet infection. Infected children typically experience fever, cold symptoms, and reddish eyes initially, followed by swelling in front of the ears. Mumps mainly affects school-going children aged between 3 and 12 years. However, if immunity against mumps is low, even adolescents and adults can contract the disease,” a paediatric doctor said.
Doctors emphasised that mumps is preventable if the vaccine is included with the measles and rubella (MR) vaccine. The Tamil Nadu govt has also requested the Union govt to supply the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine under routine immunisation to control all three diseases in the state.
They stressed the urgent need to reinstate the mumps vaccine in the UIP to ensure comprehensive protection against the disease.
