Immunization is the process whereby a person is made immune or resistant to an
infectious disease, typically by the administration of a
vaccine. The Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) was flagged off in India in 1978. According to the recommendation of National technical advisory group of India (NATGI), Government of India is going to include four new
vaccines in the UIP for whole India. The four new
vaccines are Inactivated
Poliomyelitis Vaccine (IPV) for
polio, rota
viral vaccine,
vaccine against
rubella, and
Japanese encephalitis vaccine (179 districts in India). Here, authors have tried to show a comparative descriptive analysis of the hemophilus
influenza and
pneumococcal pneumonia with rota virus, so that in near future Government of India can also consider their inclusion in the national UIP. In India, 39.2% of all diarrheal death are due to rota virus, whereas 0.72 million deaths are due to hemophilus
influenza B and 1.3 million are due to
pneumococcal pneumonia in <5 years age-group. India's indigenous developed rota
viral vaccine's (Rotavac) efficacy is 56% in 1(st) year compared to H
influenza B (Hib) efficacy 95% and
PCV13 vaccine "3 + 1" dose efficacy 100% (South Africa).
Rotarix incremental cost-effectiveness ratio is US $21.4 to US $34 per disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) compared to Hib US $ 819 per DALYs in India. In case of
pneumococcal vaccine, India needs more trails on the serotype specificity, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness but there is enough evidence that hemophilus
influenza burden is high in India and the present Hib vaccine is safe and highly effective. In future with the help of donor agencies, India should include the hemophilus
influenza B and
pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine in national UIP which will save millions of poor children's life.