At-least eight students of a school in Handwara were taken ill on Monday after being administered measles-rubella (MR) vaccination.While Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) headed by Dr. Suhail Naik urged people not to be panic and asserted that “sickness or fainting” of the school children was actually due to fear of needles, known as trypanophobia, experts urged doctors on the ground to report any reaction as “clinical input is paramount.”“Drug has to be analyzed. Whatever is written on vaccine is not that important but what is important is that if a child develops any reaction, it has to be reported. The clinical input is paramount,” a senior doctor told GNS.“If a drug (vaccine) is administered to a child and the child develops any reaction, that has to be reported and that clinical judgment, which is ultimate thing,” the senior doctor added.The DAK appealed people that few children who have developed some sickness or fainting at school in Handwara was not related to MR vaccine but “such children have actually fear of needles what is known as trypanophobia.”“Trypanophobia is an extreme fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles,” said DAK president Dr Suhail Naik.Some children are especially afraid of needles because they’re unused to the sensation of their skin being pricked by something sharp, he said. “By the time most people reach adulthood, they can tolerate needles much more easily,” Dr Naik added.Children who have a phobia to needles can have an episode of fainting or severe dizziness as a result of having a vasovagal reflex reaction when pricked by a needle, he explained.
General secretary DAK, Dr Owais H Dar advised parents and media houses in particular that symptoms of trypanophobia should not be “blown out of proportion” as this happens due to needle phobia and was not related to MR vaccine as such. “Kids with trypanophobia can have dizziness, fainting, anxiety, panic attacks, racing heart rate and all this is short lived and have no grave outcome.”The DAK appealed people, preacher, teachers, civil societies to make MR Campaign a success as it will determine the future health of the next generation.Earlier, as per reports reaching GNS, eight students at Sunrise school in Handwara complained of sickness after they were vaccinated by a team of doctors.Reports said that when students were administering the vaccine, one student suddenly fainted. Within minutes, the others also turned restless. All these students were rushed to the local hospital for advanced treatment.BMO Handwara, when contacted by GNS, termed the issue as normal and said that few students at the school were afraid of vaccine which created panic. “All the students were given treatment later and now all are fine.”The BMO said that Measles-rubella vaccination were conducted in 10 schools in Handwara.Pertinently MR measles is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus and an estimated nearly 49,000 children die from measles its related complications annually, making it one of the leading causes of child deaths in India. The vaccine is considered as important to keep the disease at bay. (GNS)