Another paediatrician proposes sanitation and nutrition over vaccines.

October 5, 2006

Puliyel <puliyel....com> wrote: Wed, 4 Oct 2006 23:33:41 +0530Puliyel <puliyel....>"Jagannath Chatterjee" <jagchat01Re: You were right about the Hep B Vaccine.Dear ChatterjeeThank you for the note.TrulyJacob On 10/4/06, Jagannath Chatterjee <jagchat01 > wrote: To Jacob M Puliyel, Head. Department of Paediatrics, St Stephen's Hospital, Delhi 110054, India Dear Sir, I came across a query of yours which questioned the priority of the Hep B vaccine over the need for improving santitation and ensuring pure drinking water. I am sorry your warning was not heeded. We miss such views in the paediatricians of today. The recent OPV debacle is a case in point. Yours faithfully, Jagannath Chatterjee. BMJ 1999;319:188 ( 17 July )Letters Should immunisation against hepatitis B take priority over provision of clean drinking water? EDITORThe World Health Organisation has suggested universal immunisation with hepatitis B vaccine. 1 The Indian Academy of Paediatrics has recommended vaccination to paediatricians in the country and to the government; paediatricians have in turn been recommending it. The cheapest Indian vaccine costs 360 rupees (?5.21) for three doses. The India Development Report 1997 suggests that a third of the population earn less than 57 rupees (83p) per capita per month. 2 The main causes of death in India are diarrhoea, respiratory infections, and malnutrition. Does the World Health Organisation really want universal immunisation with hepatitis B vaccine to take priority over the provision of clean drinking water? At what stage of development of a country's infrastructure does the prevention of hepatitis B by vaccination take priority? Is there any study about this? We would like to be rid of this vermin, but the Pied Piper must be paid. Jacob M Puliyel, Head. Department of Paediatrics, St Stephen's Hospital, Delhi 110054, India puliyel 1. Hoofnagle JH. Towards universal vaccination against hepatitis B. N Engl J Med 1989; 321: 1333 [Medline]. 2. Parikh KS, ed. India development report 1997. Delhi: Oxford Press, 1997. "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." -

Aurobindo. Everyone is raving about the all-new Mail. -- ___________________________Jacob M. Puliyel MD MRCP MPhilSara Varughese DO FRCS MSc(LSHTM)eFax 00 44 7092-124285Phone 00 91 11 2946388 00 91 9868035091 "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.

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