Tejaswini’s Story

Tejaswini: The need for education about the power of vaccinations

Bangalore, India

Pneumonia was an alien word to Nagesh and Shwetha until it nearly took their baby girl a few months ago. Their year and half old toddler Tejaswini, was a healthy, active baby. At the age of one, she developed wheezing and lost her appetite, which made her cranky and unsettled.

Alarmed by the change in Tejaswini’s behaviour, her parents took her to several clinics until they finally were referred to a large government hospital. Tejaswini was admitted for six days. Though her family were relieved that Tejaswini, finally diagnosed with pneumonia, was given medicine, they wished they had known how to prevent this sickness from occurring in the first place. They were interested to learn there are vaccines that can prevent more than half of severe pneumonia.

Vaccines against two of the main causes of life-threatening pneumonia – pneumococcus (Streptococcus pneumoniae) and Hib (Haemophilus influenzae b) [1]– are used throughout the developed world. However, millions of children in developing countries still lack access to them.

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[1] Katerine L O’Brien, Lara J Wolfoson, James P Watt, Emily Henkle, Maria Deloria-Knoll, Natalie McCall, Ellen Lee, Kim Mulholland, Orin Levine, Thomas Cherian, for the Hib and Pneumococcal Global Burden of Disease Study Team. Burden of Disease caused by Streptococcus Pneumoniae in children younger than 5 years: global estimates. The Lancet September 12 2009, vol 374.