baby immunizations

Kent

Hello all,

I’ve been reading this site for a while now and have found it extremely informative on most counts, but I am unable to find something on the issue I’m faced with, so hopefully someone will be able to steer me in the right direction.

Background: Basically I have accepted a position in Delhi with my company and will be moving early March 07 for a 2 year stint. My wife and two month old baby will be accompanying me on my Indian adventure.

While my wife and I have been able to sort out required vaccinations/immunizations the baby is only able to have the standard scheduled two month injections (which are only a couple). Here in OZ, there are scheduled injections at 2, 4, 6, 12 months, this excludes the extra jabs required for extended stays in the sub-continent.

We went to see a travel doctor for advice and left not confident at all. Here’s a bit of a summary:

“I believe you would have no problem getting vaccinations/immunizations in Delhi. But I would recommend taking you own syringes though. Oh, I would also check that the vaccines are withdrawn from a single use container, not something which is dipped into every time. Also you would want to be confident that they have been held at the right temperature as some are live vaccines and can perish easily” etc.

After that discussion I was very concerned about what to do. So, my questions are as follows:

1. Is it possible to receive scheduled vaccinations in Delhi?
2. Do I have to take my own syringes?
3. Where would I go?
4. Can I be confident that any vaccines received are suitable? i.e. quality etc
5. Help!

Thanks in advance.

Kent

Nick-H

Welcome to IndiaMike.com

I hope someone with medical experience can answer your questions. I'm sure your doc is right --- although I don't think you need worry about the syringes; single-use, pre-packed sterile syringes are easily available here.

The thing that would worry me, in this land of power cuts, is the storage conditions...

By the way... one day last week a couple of women with a box came to the door and enquired if there were any children in the house. They were going door-to-door, house-to-house, giving polio drops.

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edwardseco

I can only support Nick on #1 since I have little experience beyond that. Once there was an outbreak of typhoid in Hyderabad and I used the connections of the doc in the family to no avail in getting a dose for my child..

steven_ber

Hello Kent and welcome to indiamike.com

I just took my 7-month old for a short holiday and was told exactly the same as you, her routine injections were enough.

On our last day in India (12th November) we went to Andheri train station and as we were leaving the station there was a group of people sticking needles in all the kids, they said it was national polio day and that all kids had to be injected, I had my baby in a carrier on my chest and had a hard time trying to stop them sticking a needle into her, I was trying to be polite and was getting nowhere, it was only when my girlfriend explained the next movements of the said needle after it's use on the baby that they give up, she wasn't polite and they were left speechless.

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Nick-H

I'd head for the child-medicine specialist at the nearest posh private hospital.

'posh' doesn't guarantee 'best', but, in the absence of other personal recommendations, it is a good starting place.

hmm..whatcanthisbe

. Is it possible to receive scheduled vaccinations in Delhi?
YES several pedetricians (SP) and Cradle (lafemme)

2. Do I have to take my own syringes?
Nope all disposable hygenic

3. Where would I go?

Dr Raghu at Cradle / Lafemme GK2 till thje baby is 6 mths old after that i can give you another contact where my cousin takes the baby

4. Can I be confident that any vaccines received are suitable? i.e. quality etc

Yes

5. Help!

more Q's e-mail / pm me

hmm..whatcanthisbe

OH all that i said is for delhi

dhans

Hi,

Did a bit of a search on the intranetsite of the Netherlands MFA. They recommend the British Medical Centre (British High Commission Compound 26872161, 26114602 Ext 426 2399). Allthough the better hospitals do have clean needles etc, Netherlands diplomats are advised to take an aids prevention kit whilst travelling in India.

Our kids only needed a hepatitis A & B innoculation on top of the normal infants series.

Contact your embassy in Delhi for a list of doctors they trust and use.

Have Fun,

Hans

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vmehra24

Polio vaccine is a matter of concern. The India Govt pushes oral polio vaccine (containing alive viruses) that needs to be given to the baby 6-10 times and could also produce vaccine-induced polio.

The Western countries use Polio injections made from dead viruses. It is much more safer and needs to be given only 2-3 times.

Kent

Thanks everyone for the advice. Greatly appreciated.

Kent

Nick-H

Thanks for the info on the polio vaccine. Bad news.

machadinha

On bringing your own syringes, I did so on my first trip. Travelling solo it never stopped me from wondering who was gonna tell people I carried them on me in the one situation where it might have mattered, i.e., being unconscious after a traffic accident or so. Keeping them reliably sterile travelling around for a couple of months is another issue, although this doesn't affect the original poster here.

On landing in Delhi I needed to finish a Hep B series I had started. Using my guidebook and some local advice I picked a hospital; the place in question might have been somewhat off-putting if you're not used to the "developing" world I guess, crowded waiting room and not altogether glitzy, otherwise quite OK by me.

The British expat doctor who saw me kindly informed me that the needles I'd been given (for both intravenous and extravenous or intramuscular use I believe, supposedly my chemist had considered this handy) were OK for emergencies maybe but would have me up against the roof if she used them just like that, since they're way too thick. She seemed rather puzzled at my suggestion to use my own at all, and kindly handed me some of the right kind to carry on my further travels for free. Kind of embarrassing the whole thing really.

The latter is an issue anyway, travellers are usually cautioned to approach the matter with extreme tact, since you're basically suggesting you don't trust whoever's treating you.

In any case I think in a place like Delhi you should be OK, bringing all that emergency stuff may be handy for going way off the track, and your doctor at home may not always see the difference. Maybe calling up your embassy over there sometime soon is a good idea, they should have the lowdown. And of course with a baby you'd want to be extra careful.

On storage issues, I would assume any hospital that's worth half its salt has generators on standby to undercut any power failures. But... I can't be sure

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SANJAY_DEL

Sterile single-use disposable syringes are widely available all over India.
Under India's Universal Immunization Programme, disposable needles and syringes are provided to inject the vaccines at all the centers all over this huge country.
The program has also received help from UNICEF.
A cold chain system is maintained for storage of vaccines. Even in case of frequent power failures, the ice packs in the specially designed refrigerators, and the frost in the deep frost machines maintain the required temperatures which is strictly monitored.
India's vaccine program has done remarkably well in recent years and the results are now thriving and growing up.

SANJAY_DEL

Why do we feed polio virus to our children?
For the last 5 years we are trying to get rid of polio completely, once and for all.
This live vaccine is a harmless creature that is intended to replace the deadly "wild" polio virus that any child may breathe in.
This is a scientific strategy approved by the WHO.
One by one, countries and continents have got rid of their wild polio strains.
Injecting the inactivated vaccine would have caused an added burden on our Immunization program at that stage.
Within the next 2 years we hope to eradicate polio.
Queries welcome.

Mrs. Ahuja

Hi Kent,
I understand ur concern on your child's immunization, I am a mother myself and would recommend you some places where u can be sure of the vaccinations:
You do not have to carry ur own syringes. They Hospitals like Max Med centre (panchsheel) or Max Saket [/b][/b]are good with that.
Vaccinations are available easily especially in these places. Though for any specific vaccinations you will have to check with them.
Though most of them can be trusted with quality. If you are too worried, you can probably check with these 2 medical centres in advance.

Hope I have been able to help you.

Mrs. Ahuja