BANGALORE: Stocks may or may not fall every time a company's chief executive officer sneezes. But for every employee who falls sick, the employer may be losing thousands in working hours lost and medical expenses.

"Major corporates are beginning to take this seriously and are getting their staff immunised against hepatitis, typhoid and chicken pox. It saves them money in the long run," says Mohammed T. Mateen, Director, Acura Hospital, Koramangala.

When companies such as Infosys, Siemens and Philips get their employees immunised, they are trying to prevent them getting infected with the Hepatitis A or B virus, which cause jaundice or typhoid or chicken pox. All four vaccines can be given during a one week period and normally cause no reactions.

"It makes business sense... studies have shown that out of every 2,000 employees, four to five a year may get jaundice, six to seven catch typhoid and up to 15 may come down with malaria. In terms of money lost by the employer, it may amount to Rs. 1,000 a day for each employee on sick leave, plus medical expenses. For a large corporate, it may amount to Rs. 4 lakhs or more annually," says Dr. Mateen. Hepatitis B is contracted from contaminated water or food and it can be severely debilitating. Dr. Mateen, who practises in Koramangala where a number of software companies are located, comes across such cases regularly. "Most IT employees are young and migrants from other cities and usually thrive on roadside food and are always eating out and are exposed to infections," he says. Typhoid is another disease that comes from contaminated water as is Hepatitis A. While people who have to travel a lot are obviously more exposed to these infections, it can be caught by anyone. Hepatitis vaccines usually last a lifetime.

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