Vaccine preventable diseases in eastern Maharashtra--a hospital based analysis

A retrospective study of hospital admissions of six vaccine preventable diseases from 1982-86 was carried out to save as a baseline data for future evaluation of vaccination programmes. Children between 1-4 years predominated the admissions in all diseases except whooping cough. The frequency of admissions of tuberculosis showed no change. Measles showed classical cyclical trend. Male female ratio was 1.8: 1.0. The mortality rate in meningeal tuberculosis was not influenced by the immunization status. Relatively small number of admissions of diphtheria and whooping cough indicates a decline due to natural causes or due to intervention programmes.