Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) Surveillance in India: Position Paper of Indian Academy of Pediatrics, 2013.
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Date
2013-08
Journal Title
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Abstract
Adverse event following immunization (AEFI) is a critical
component of immunization program. The risk of AEFI with
vaccination is always weighed against the risk of not immunizing
a child. There is an evolving AEFI surveillance system in India for
the vaccines delivered through ‘universal immunization program’
(UIP) of government sector, but the reporting remained
suboptimal for long in the country, and there is almost no
participation from private sector. The AEFI reporting from private
sector will provide vital information on the safety of new and
underutilized vaccines, not part of the UIP in India. The national
guidelines are recently revised and updated. The Indian
Academy of Pediatrics believes that pediatricians, especially in
private sector have a crucial role to play with reporting of AEFI
with newer/underutilized vaccines. Programmatic error, vaccine
reaction, injection reactions, coincidental and unknown are the
five broad categories of AEFI for programmatic purposes. The
serious AEFIs (death, disability, cluster and hospitalization)
need to be reported immediately and investigated in detail as per
the laid down procedures. Once a serious AEFI happens,
primary or urban health centre should be immediately informed
by the pediatricians practicing in rural or urban areas,
respectively. This advocacy paper from the academy provides
guidelines to practitioners on how to report cases, and suggests
ways for IAP members to help in ongoing efforts of the
government in improving AEFI surveillance in the country. The
details about the diagnosis and management of known/expected
AEFI with UIP and newer vaccines shall be published later.
Description
Keywords
Adverse Event Following Immunization, Surveillance, Universal Immunization Program
Citation
Chitkara A J, Thacker N, Vashishtha V M, Bansal C P, Gupta S G. Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) Surveillance in India: Position Paper of Indian Academy of Pediatrics, 2013. Indian Pediatrics. 2013 August; 50(8): 739-741.