Lok Sabha Question No. 3341 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-05
Subject: Diphtheria Infection
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: P. KARUNAKARAN, M. B. RAJESH, (ADV.) JOICE GEORGE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 3341 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5 TH AUGUST, 2016

## DIPHTHERIA INFECTION

## 3341. SHRI P. KARUNAKARAN: SHRI M.B. RAJESH: ADV. JOICE GEORGE:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken note of recurrence of diphtheria bacteria/ infection in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with number of deaths reported, State/UT - wiseincluding Kerala;
- (c) whether the Government has ascertained/examined the reserves for the recurrence of dip htheria threat;
- (d) if so, the outcome thereon; and
- (e) the steps taken by the Government to contain and check dip htheria across thecountry?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

(SHRI FAGGAN SINGH KULASTE)

- (a) &(b) : Yes, the Government has taken note of the Diphtheria infection in the country. The State/U -wise, including Kerala, provisional numbers of cases and deaths due to diphtheria during 2015 as reported in the National Health Profile 2016, published by Ministry of Health & Fa mily Welfare, GoI are annexed.
- (c) & (d) : Field investigation in states points out two reasons for the occurrenc e of diphtheria cases in the community. These reasons are:
- (a) Occurrence of disease in unimmunized and    partially immunized children against diphtheria.
- (b) Shift in mean age of occurrence of disease to adolescent population.
- (e ): The following steps have been taken by the Government to contain and check diphtheria across the country:
- Under Universal Immunization programme (UIP), vaccination against Diphtheria disease is bei provided as three primary doses of DPT, Hep B and Hib containing Pentavalent vaccine at 6, 10 and 14 weeks of age, followed by two booster doses of DPT vaccine at 16 - 24 months and 5 - 6 years of age.
- In order to improve the vaccination coverage, the Government launched Mission Indradhanush cover all the unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children in the country.
- Government  of  India  is  providing  performance  based  incentives  to  Accredited  Social  Hea Activist  (ASHA)  for  full  and  complete  immunization  and  social  mobilization  to  incre immunization coverage.
- Vaccine preventable disease surveillance (VPD) mechanisms exist in the country viz. Integrate Disease  Surveillance  Programme  (IDSP),  WHO - VPD  Surveillance,  that  regularly  review  the disease case status and take necessary steps to control any detected outbreak.

State/UT wise cases and deaths due to Diphtheria in India , 2015 (Provisional)

| State/UT          |   No. of cases |   No. of deaths |
|-------------------|----------------|-----------------|
| Andhra Pradesh    |             57 |               0 |
| Arunachal Pradesh |              0 |               0 |
| Assam             |            192 |               0 |
| Bihar             |             57 |               1 |
| Chhattisgarh      |             24 |               0 |
| Goa               |              0 |               0 |
| Gujarat           |             12 |               0 |
| Haryana           |            806 |               0 |
| Himachal Pradesh  |              0 |               0 |
| Jammu & Kashmir   |              0 |               0 |
| Jharkhand         |             11 |               0 |
| Karnataka         |             14 |               1 |
| Kerala            |              4 |               0 |
| Madhya Pradesh    |             52 |               0 |
| Maharashtra       |            181 |               1 |
| Manipur           |              0 |               0 |
| Meghalaya         |              0 |               0 |
| Mizoram           |             47 |               0 |
| Nagaland          |              0 |               0 |
| Odisha            |             50 |               0 |
| Punjab            |              6 |               0 |
| Rajasthan         |            445 |               2 |
| Sikkim            |              0 |               0 |
| Tamil Nadu        |              0 |               0 |
| Telangana         |              0 |               0 |
| Tripura           |             46 |               0 |
| Uttarakhand       |             33 |               0 |
| Uttar Pradesh     |             89 |               0 |
| West Bengal       |            528 |               4 |
| A & N Islands     |              1 |               0 |
| Chandigarh        |             23 |               1 |
| D & N Haveli      |              2 |               0 |
| Daman & Diu       |              0 |               0 |
| Delhi             |            569 |              75 |
| Lakshadweep       |              0 |               0 |
| Puducherry        |              0 |               0 |
| TOTAL             |           3249 |              85 |

Source: National Health Profile, 2016, MoHFW, GoI