Thiruvananthapuram: There is a growing suspicion in Kerala about the efficacy of the Intra Venal Rabies Vaccine (IRDV). Of the 20 people who had died of rabies this year, four had taken all four doses of the rabies vaccine and one had taken half.

There were also charges that Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited had purchased vaccines without adhering to strict quality norms. Opposition Leader V D Satheeesan said that the KMSCL had not tested the quality of the vaccines even after certain complaints like swelling were reported after they were administered.

Satheesan quoted a communication from the vaccine company that said it would not be held responsible for complications arising from the vaccines. “Even the Centre had warned that low-quality illegal vaccines were being distributed in a big way,” the Opposition leader said.

However, health minister Veena George has no doubts about the potency of the rabies vaccine. She told the Assembly that if people had died even after taking the vaccines, it was only because they were bitten in areas like the face, hands, ears, neck and lips from where the virus could quickly reach the brain.

“It will take at least a week for the vaccines to act. By that time the virus would have attacked the brain,” the minister said while replying to an adjournment motion moved by Muslim League MLA P K Basheer in the Assembly on Tuesday. She emphasised that the vaccines had undergone two in-house quality checks and had also secured the certification of the Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL).

It was not just the Opposition that looked unconvinced. Even Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seemed taken aback by the minister's fervent rebuttal of all charges. After the minister had her say, the Chief Minister got up and made a terse announcement. “We will constitute an expert committee to assess the quality of rabies vaccines.” Coming close on the heels of the minister's passionate intervention in support of the KMSCL's vaccine procurement, the Chief Minister's promise of a panel to study the quality of the vaccines is seen as a snub of the junior minister.

The Opposition Leader welcomed the Chief Minister's assurance. “There is extreme anxiety about dog bites. In the last two years, dog bites and rabies deaths have been increasing in an alarming manner,” Satheesan said. Along with ensuring the quality of vaccines, the Opposition Leader said that sterilisation of strays should be taken up in good earnest.

Muslim League's Basheer, however, had a militant solution for the dog bite problem. “Even if a dog is sterilised, the fact is it chomps people to death using its teeth. What can be done to stop these dogs from biting children and the old people,” he asked and provided the answer himself. “If farmers can shoot at wild boars trying to destroy their crops, why can't we use the same method to do away with strays,” he said.

This did not find favour even with the Opposition Leader. “Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, we have no right to kill dogs. The only way open to us is sterilisation,” he said. Animal Husbandry minister J Chinchurani, too, said Basheer's wish was unlawful under the PCA Act.