Kolkata: State health department on Wednesday introduced Rota Virus Vaccine (RVV) in all the governmentrun medical colleges, district and sub-divisional hospitals and health centres to prevent diarrhoea among the children. Rotavirus is a leading cause of diarrhoea in children less than five years of age. State government has chalked out a detailed plan to vaccinate the children in order to prevent the disease. The health department on Wednesday formally introduced the vaccination so that the children below the age of five can be immunized. Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya launched the RVV thereby giving a great stress on the routine immunization programme to eradicate diarrhoea. According to a press statement issued by the Director of Health Services (DHS) Dr Ajay Chakraborty, RVV will be administered orally to the children with a specially manufactured single-use syringe. The trained health workers will administer the vaccine among the children in all the hospitals and the health centers. State health department has already a comprehensive training programme among 80,298 health workers. Three doses of RVV will be given to all infants starting six weeks of age and the subsequent doses would be administered on the children when the attain the age of 10 weeks and 14 weeks. "Our target in the state for the immunization programme is 14.65 lakh infants. Bengal has high coverage of vaccines (95 per cent fully immunized as per HMIS data 2018-19) and it also has strong public health system. It is expected that the acceptance and coverage of RVV will also be high and we will be able to prevent death caused by diarrhoea in the state," Dr Chakraborty said in his press statement. As per the data available with the state government, diarrhoea is a major cause of childhood illness and it contributes to about 15 per cent of all deaths in children below the age of five. In India, Rota Virus accounts for 40 per cent of hospitalisation due to diarrhoea among the children. The disease also causes 78000 deaths every year out of which 59,000 occur in the first two years of life. Rota Virus diarrhoea cannot be treated by using drugs or antibiotics. RVV is a specific measure which can prevent severe diarrhoea by 74 percent. South Dinajpur district health department on Wednesday launched the vaccine. Balurghat district hospital, district magistrate Nikhil Nirmal said: "Rotavirus vaccine immunization programme aims at reducing child mortality. The virus causes of severe diarrhoea in infants belonging to the age group of less than two years. The vaccine will prevent the Rotavirus diarrhoea. Our district with all other state districts has launched the immunisation programme on Wednesday."

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