Consider the following diseases. 1) Diphtheria 2) Chickenpox 3) Smallpox [2014]

Consider the following diseases

It is a bacterial disease; it affects children from newborns to 16 years of age. The bacteria most commonly infects the respiratory system.
Transmission: Person to person, usually via respiratory droplets from sneezing or coughing. Some people may not develop disease manifestations but can transmit the bacteria to others.
Symptoms: It can cause weakness, sore throat, mild fever and swollen glands in the neck. The bacteria produce a toxin that kills healthy tissues in the respiratory system and forms a thick, grey coating called “pseudomembrane.” If it enters the bloodstream, it can cause heart, nerve, and kidney damage.
DPT Vaccine, part of the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) can prevent diphtheria.

Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) is one of the largest public health programmes targeting newborns and pregnant women.
- Immunisation is the process of making a person immune to an infectious disease, typically by giving them a vaccine.
Under UIP, immunisation is provided free of cost against 12 vaccine preventable diseases:
- Nationally against 9 diseases: Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio, Measles, Rubella, Childhood Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and Meningitis and Pneumonia caused by Hemophilus Influenza type B
- Sub-nationally against 3 diseases: Rotavirus diarrhoea, Pneumococcal Pneumonia and Japanese Encephalitis
A child is said to be fully immunised if the child receives all due vaccines as per the national immunisation schedule within 1st year of the child.
Two significant milestones of UIP:
- Elimination of polio in 2014
- Elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus in 2015

Transmission: Contagious in nature, Spread through respiratory droplets (coughing/sneezing) or direct contact with the rash.
Symptoms: Fever: Mild to moderate. Rash: Red, itchy spots that turn into fluid-filled blisters and eventually scab over. Fatigue and loss of appetite.

Smallpox, caused by the variola virus, was a highly contagious and deadly infectious disease eradicated globally in 1980 through a successful worldwide vaccination campaign led by the World Health Organisation (WHO). India declared itself free of smallpox in 1979.