Doctors and their own medicine Flu vaccine racket
NEW DELHI: AIIMS may be staring at
a potential outbreak of influenza-like
illnesses. Most doctors at All India Institute of
Medical Sciences have refused to take the preventive
vaccination against the influenza virus as, they claim, the
vaccine is outdated and ineffective.
"World
Health Organization (WHO) issues the guidelines after an
extensive research each year on the potential strains of virus that can cause
pandemics and the type of vaccine to be used. The recommendation for 2012-13 is
a trivalent vaccine which covers three potentially pandemic causing viruses
giving maximum protection. However, AIIMS has been using only the outdated
monovalent vaccine, pandyflu, from 2010 that covers only one type of virus,"
said Dr Deepak Damodaran, vice-president of the AIIMS Resident Doctors'
Association. He said the vaccines were reformulated each year due to the
changing strains of the virus.
Delay in tendering could be the reason behind the non-availability of latest
vaccines. "We have written to the director about this and he has forwarded our
complaint to the medical superintendent," Damodaran said.
AIIMS spokesperson Dr Y K Gupta said the administration was getting the matter
examined by experts. "We provide vaccines which are given to us by the Union
health ministry," he said.
Influenza is a contagious respiratory illness caused by viruses. It can cause
mild to severe illness and can prove fatal in some cases. Swine flu, caused by
H1N1 influenza virus, was declared an epidemic in India in 2009.
AIIMS doctors said some residents were already down with the
infection. "Our biggest fear is that critically-ill patients
may get infected with the virus if they come in contact with a doctor who has
contracted the
disease. It could prove fatal in some cases, for example
elderly patients suffering from kidney failure or cancer patients," a doctor
said.
Health experts say preventive vaccination, though recommended for health
professionals, is not practised in most hospitals. "Few of our staff member take
it. We cannot force anyone to get vaccinated," said a senior administrative
official at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.