Myanmar: New pentavalent vaccination program to target 1.4 million children

About 1.4 million children under 12 months of age will be vaccinated against five deadly diseases under a four-year program beginning in October, an official from the Ministry of Health said last week. The pentavalent vaccine protects children against five potentially fatal diseases: diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B and haemophilus influenza, the bacteria that causes meningitis and pneumonia. Children under one year of age should receive the vaccination in three doses, at two, four and six months, said Dr Soe Lwin Nyein, director of the Department of Epidemiology. “The new vaccine … means [children] don’t need to be vaccinated for each disease separately. But there is no difference in the efficacy,” he said. Children in Myanmar normally receive what is known as the DPT vaccine, which protects them against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus. The national vaccination program aims to reduce preventable infectious childhood diseases and as a consequence child mortality. According to World Health...