Typhoid drive in Indian villages

More than 20,000 children living in remote villages in India have been vaccinated against typhoid.

The Ahmedabad Red Cross Society launched a vaccination drive earlier this month and has so far provided the injection for children in several villages in regions including Ranpur and Dholka.

It is hoped that the project will avoid the annual increase in typhoid cases which often disrupts the education of children, reports the Times of India.

Mahesh Trivedi, honorary secretary of the Ahmedabad Red Cross Society, told the newspaper: "Typhoid vaccination is very important for children living in interior villages.

"They don't get potable water during monsoon and fall prey to the infection. A child afflicted with typhoid may have to miss school for even a month. The vaccine works for three years."

The Ahmedabad Red Cross was founded in 1923 and has run a blood bank and blood transfusion clinic since 1983.

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