New Indpress
 
Bangalore, Nov 27: If there is an outbreak of smallpox again, then the entire country is susceptible to the pandemic, says Lt Gen D Raghunath, principal executive of Sir Dorabji Tata Centre for Research in Tropical Diseases.

Speaking about bio security in the national context at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Gen Ragunath said smallpox could be a perceived threat to the country since vaccination against the pandemic was stopped about 30 years ago.

After World Health Organisation’s global initiative in 1967, smallpox was completely eradicated in 1977.

Following this, the World Health Assembly recommended that all countries stop vaccination.

India also complied with this recommendation, and passed a national policy ceasing smallpox vaccination for infants.

“Before the eradication, every infant was administered the vaccinia vaccination, but since 1980 children have not vaccinated against smallpox. This makes them susceptible to smallpox if there is an outbreak,” Gen Raghunath said.

Moreover, it is not just the children who are at risk, even adults are susceptible to the pandemic since the immunity against the virus would be worn off by now, he added.

In addition to this, there is no stock piling of vaccines and serum in our country that augments the threat.