ISLAMABAD: As many as ten leading private schools in the capital have refused to allow their students to be vaccinated, following a scare regarding the measles vaccine that is being administered to children as part of a new government inoculation drive.

The Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) health directorate has been trying to convince patents and the schools’ management that vaccination is in their children’s best interests, but so far no one has budged.

The refusals stem from apprehensions about the measles vaccine. On Feb 12, five children who were vaccinated at a CDA clinic in Sector F-11 were brought to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) with symptoms that were thought to be reactions to the vaccine. All the children were from the same family and were residents of Sri Saral in Sector D-12.

An inquiry was ordered immediately after the incident, and samples were obtained from the children to verify the underlying cause of their conditions.

According to an official statement, signed by Professor Tabish Hazir, head of Pediatrics at the Pims Children’s Hospital, the inquiry found that the children did not suffer a reaction to the measles vaccine and that their condition was unrelated to their inoculation. The inquiry committee was headed by Dr Maqbool Hussain, Associate Professor and head of the hospital’s Infectious Disease Unit, and had four other members.

Cite lack of parental consent, fears about unfavourable reaction to vaccine as reasons for refusal

“It is to be reinforced that these cases are not related to the current measles campaign and the campaign should continue without any interruption and fear,” the statement said.

Dr Hassan Urooj, who heads the CDA’s Directorate of Health, told Dawn that he was shocked when he found out that 10 educational institutions had refused to vaccinate their students against measles.

“These are all elite schools, so it is strange that they are refusing to vaccinate. Security concerns cannot be a factor because as many as five intimation letters have been sent to each school, since the campaign was delayed five times,” he said.

“Even in the case of the latest campaign, intimation letters were dispatched to schools two weeks in advance. I’m worried that these schools will be left behind once the campaign ends,” he said.

However, when Dawn contacted the schools in question, their spokespersons said they needed parents’ permission before they could vaccinate students. Another school’s spokesperson cited security concerns, saying, “When parents are not allowed to enter the school, how can a team of strangers be allowed to enter without prior intimation.”

But Dr Urooj maintains that incidents of unfavourable reaction to the vaccine were negligible.

“People should know that if the vaccine is administered, children are rendered immune to measles for the rest of their lives,” he said.

“We have vaccinated around 200,000 children in Islamabad and no major reaction is observed in any child. So people should force school managements to vaccinate their students,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2015

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