KOCHI: When a baby is born, one of the many imperative steps taken is immunisation. But the recent times have seen people blindly taking in information, be it verified or fake, especially regarding health issues. In order to prevent spreading misinformation regarding immunisation, Facebook got tough with anti-vaxers after the measles outbreak in the US. Following suit, Instagram recently decided to hide search results which "consistently return false information about vaccines". This, however, does not effectively tackle the main issue at the front: The anti-immunisation drive celebrated by many. 

According to the national laboratory-supported vaccine-preventable diseases surveillance, 533 cases of diphtheria were reported in Kerala in 2016; 92 per cent of this was recorded in three northern districts in Kerala. "Only immunisation can keep such serious diseases at bay. In north Kerala, health officials are mostly met by stiff resistance, with respect to immunisation. Parents cite different reasons that vaccines are marketing techniques by the American corporate world and that they cause fertility issues in the child," says Dr Soly Manuel, a neonatologist at Little Flower Hospital. 
But this is not a case in just north Kerala. "There are a lot of educated people who resist efforts to immunise their children. They believe their natural immune system can handle such diseases and some think there are no pathogens in their surroundings," says Soly. 

Debunking myths

The country, alongside the rest of the world, has been fighting deadly diseases since time immemorial. For instance, smallpox was a dangerous disease responsible for killing thousands of people. It doesn't take one more than a minute to Google the worst smallpox outbreak in India in 1974 when over 15,000 people succumbed to the disease. Thanks to immunisation efforts, the disease was successfully eradicated from the earth. And polio is at the verge of eradication. "Polio has been effectively eradicated from India. But this doesn't mean the pathogens have disappeared. The pathogens of most deadly diseases are kept at bay because of immunisation," says Soly. 

Furthermore, diseases with no immunisation are being reported now. "Take Nipah for instance. Malayalis hadn't even heard of the disease until the outbreak. Though we were able to contain it, many still died," she says. 

Not everything on social media is true. "Take everything with a pinch of salt. The authorities are bringing out immunisation and vaccination programmes for the public benefit. People need to understand that. Just think about how bad smallpox was. We have come a long way since then," Soly adds.