Qatar Suprime Council of Health Conducts Vaccination Campign Against Tdap

Doha, February 19 (QNA) -The Supreme Council of Health s (SCH) Health Protection and Communicable Disease Control Department will on March 3-17 conduct an annual Tdap (combined Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis) vaccination campaign among Grade 10 students in all Independent, government and private schools across the country, a senior official has said. Mrs. Amal Al Yafei, the head of the expanded immunization programme at the Health Protection and Communicable Disease Control Department said the campaign will include 51 independent schools and 61 private schools . It is addressed to more than 12,000 students in the 10 grade (14 to 16 years old). Al Yafei said in an exclusive statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on Tuesday that the vaccination would be voluntary and is subject to the approval of the parents of the form distributed to students ... emphasizing meantime the importance of this vaccine, which is given every ten years for the prevention of diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough in one serum. For his part, Dr hamad Eid al-Romaihi , the head of the Health Protection and Communicable Disease Control Department s surveillance and outbreak section said earlier Monday that Tdap vaccine protects against three diseases - Tetanus, Diptheria and Pertussis (whooping cough) - and most children receive it as infants and toddlers, whereas they need a booster dose at school entry and while in Grade 10." The official confirmed the recent case of viral meningitis in a young Qatari boy, who suffered from Enterovirus meningitis. "Enteroviruses are the most common cause of viral meningitis that spread from person to person through fecal contamination, which can occur when using the toilet and not properly washing hands afterward and also can be spread through respiratory secretions of an infected person," he explained. According to him, symptoms of the virus include sudden fever, chills and headache, sensitivity to light or back and neck stiffness. "All cases of meningitis are usually immediately notified to the Health Protection and Communicable Diseases Department where cases are investigated and verified. Then, we later ensured adequate prevention and control measures among family and school close contacts of the affected person," Dr al-Romaihi said. He mentioned that measures were taken to identify close contacts of the boy, while parents of other children in the school were contacted to inform them about the case. "We also conduct further field visits to the affected school in order to ensure that no one else has similar symptoms of the virus," he said. The official stated that there are no vaccines for the most common causes of viral meningitis but some measures can be taken to reduce the risk of contracting the virus including personal hygiene such as frequent hand washing after using toilets as well as before eating. "Posters about proper hand washing were also distributed among the students in the school while parents were advised to complete vaccination of their children against some diseases that can lead to viral meningitis, which include vaccines against measles and mumps (MMR vaccine), influenza and chickenpox," he said. On seriousness of the seasonal flu infection, which has already claimed lives and made many to be hospitalised in the US, he said: "There is always an increase in the flu activity in the winter season however, to date there has not been an unexpected increase in the flu cases or the hospitalisation caused by influenza in Qatar." He maintained that the SCH s Public Health Department is closely monitoring the influenza cases in Qatar through the Hamad Medical Corporation-based National Influenza Centre s statistics and through the Severe Acute Respiratory Infections Programme (SARI). Earlier in January , the supreme Council of Health scotched the rumors of meningococcal meningitis disease spread among the students of one of the schools in the country. SCH has also stressed that there is a vaccination available for the disease. The rumors evolved from one of the social network pages that a student has been infected by the disease. In that regard, SCH took all the necessary actions, after the prevalence of these rumors, to inspect and look into the matter. SCH confirmed that no meningitis has been detected in the country and that the affected student is an individual case. The boy student was affected with Enterovirus which is a mild inflammation, the council said, adding that he receives his treatment and his health condition is stable. Enterovirus is a common virus that enters the body through the intestinal system causing the symptoms of cold and its incubation period ranges from 3 - 7 days. No vaccination available for Enterovirus. It is recommended to wash the hands which is one of the most important preventive measures for all microbes affecting the respiratory and intestinal systems, the council said, noting the importance of family and community awareness on hand washing with water and soap after using the toilets. As a prevention against the spread of meningococcal meningitis, SCH provides vaccination to Haj and Umrah pilgrims as well as those travelling to countries where the incidence of the disease has been reported. (QNA)