Rapid revision

National Immunisation Schedule: the minimum table

• Bacillus Calmette–Guérin: Intradermal, left upper arm.
• Oral Polio Vaccine and rotavirus vaccine: Oral.
• Fractional Inactivated Polio Vaccine: Intradermal.
• Pentavalent and Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine: Intramuscular.
• Measles-Rubella: Subcutaneous in the national schedule.
• Never freeze: Pentavalent, Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus, Tetanus-diphtheria, hepatitis B, Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine, and Inactivated Polio Vaccine are freeze-sensitive.
• Freeze-dried vaccines: Bacillus Calmette–Guérin, Measles-Rubella, and Japanese encephalitis require supplied diluent and timely use after reconstitution according to policy.
• Mission Indradhanush: Reaches children and pregnant women who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated; it does not create a different routine schedule.
• Human Papillomavirus 2026 campaign: Do not insert it into the infant table; remember it separately as the age-14 nationwide campaign.

Vector and reservoir table

Screening versus diagnostic confirmation

Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme forms

• S form: Suspected cases, generally reported by health workers.
• P form: Presumptive/probable cases based on clinical diagnosis, generally reported by clinicians.
• L form: Laboratory-confirmed cases, reported by laboratories.
• Reporting week: Monday through Sunday in the traditional weekly system.
• Integrated Health Information Platform: Moves surveillance toward near-real-time, case-based digital reporting; national rollout began 5 April 2021, and Odisha migrated in 2022.
• Outbreak logic: An unusual increase above expected occurrence matters; one case may be an outbreak for a disease normally absent from an area.
• Notification is not the same as diagnosis: A notifiable suspected/confirmed event must be reported through the required channel; reporting should not be delayed for avoidable administrative reasons.

Isolation, disinfection, and transmission shortcuts

• Airborne: Tuberculosis, measles, varicella—respirator-level protection and appropriate ventilation/airborne precautions.
• Droplet: Diphtheria, pertussis, meningococcal disease, influenza—surgical-mask/droplet precautions plus standard precautions.
• Contact/faeco-oral: Acute diarrhoeal illness, rotavirus—hand hygiene, safe excreta disposal, environmental cleaning.
• Standard precautions: Apply to every patient; treat blood/body fluids as potentially infectious.
• Sterilisation: Destroys all microbial life including spores.
• Disinfection: Eliminates many/all pathogenic organisms but may not destroy bacterial spores.
• Concurrent disinfection: Done during the illness as infectious material is produced.
• Terminal disinfection: Done after the patient is discharged, transferred, or no longer infectious.
• Isolation: Separates ill/infected persons; quarantine restricts exposed persons who are not yet ill.

Awareness days worth memorising

Antimicrobial resistance and One Health

• Antimicrobial resistance: A microorganism becomes resistant; the patient’s body does not “become resistant.”
• Antibiotics do not treat viral infections such as uncomplicated dengue, measles, influenza, or the common cold.
• Antibiotic stewardship: Use an antibiotic only when indicated, choose the narrowest effective agent, use correct dose/route/duration, review culture results, and de-escalate or stop when appropriate.
• Culture before antibiotics: Obtain appropriate specimens first when this can be done without dangerously delaying urgent treatment.
• Infection prevention link: Hand hygiene, vaccination, environmental cleaning, device care, and isolation reduce infections and therefore reduce antibiotic use.
• National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2.0: Current national plan covers 2025–2029 and joins surveillance, prevention, rational antimicrobial use, research, governance, and multisectoral action.
• One Health: Human, animal, plant, and environmental health are interconnected; zoonotic surveillance and antimicrobial resistance cannot be controlled by the health department alone.
• National One Health Mission: A whole-of-government/whole-of-society platform for pandemic preparedness, integrated surveillance, joint outbreak investigation, and medical countermeasures.

Last-hour revision

• 2025 target: Tuberculosis elimination target (remember as target).
• 2027: Malaria zero indigenous cases; lymphatic-filariasis elimination; leprosy district transmission interruption; Human Immunodeficiency Virus epidemic-control push by 1 December.
• 2030: Malaria-free certification; hepatitis C elimination; dog-mediated rabies elimination.
• 2047: Sickle-cell anaemia public-health elimination mission.
• Age 30+: Government screening for hypertension, diabetes, oral cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer.
• Age 14: 2026 nationwide single-dose quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus vaccination campaign for girls.
• 1-3-7: Malaria notify-investigate-respond.
• S-P-L: Suspected–Presumptive–Laboratory surveillance forms.
• 15 minutes: Rabies wound washing.
• 24 hours: Discard prepared Oral Rehydration Solution.
• 14416: Tele-MANAS. 1097: Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome helpline. 15400: Rabies helpline.
• 2025–2029: National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2.0. 12 March 2024: National snakebite action plan launch.
• Usually curable with correct complete treatment: Tuberculosis, malaria, leprosy, hepatitis C, leptospirosis, scrub typhus, typhoid, and kala-azar.
• Preventable after exposure but not reliably curable after symptoms: Rabies.
• Controlled, not routinely cured: Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection, chronic hepatitis B, diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and many mental-health conditions.
• No specific antiviral cure; supportive care is central: Dengue, chikungunya, measles, and Japanese encephalitis.
• Irreversible damage may remain: Polio paralysis, chronic filarial lymphoedema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease airflow damage, glaucoma damage, advanced chronic kidney disease, and established stroke deficits.
• Cancer: “Cure” depends strongly on cancer type and stage; screening aims to find precancer/early cancer when cure is more likely.