Fresh polio case surfaces in UP

After Aligarh, Etah, Ghaziabad, Sitapur, Jaunpur and Mirzapur districts, a fresh polio case was detected at Aurangabad village of Pasagawan block here.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr MK Gupta told Hindustan Times that 18-month-old Islam, son of Vali Sher, was found infected with the polio virus P-1.

According to his parents, the child was administered oral doses of the polio vaccine during the Pulse Polio programme in the area.

The CMO said a probe was on to find out how the polio virus affected the child if he had been vaccinated earlier.

Dr Gupta expressed the apprehension that the child’s poor resistance due to poverty could be the cause of his illness.

According to sources, the  case came to light after the father of the affected child visited the Pasagawan primary health centre a couple of weeks ago when the child developed symptoms of disability. Taking a serious note of the matter, the PHC incharge informed the district health authorities and sent a stool sample of the child for a test which confirmed the child was infected with the polio virus.

Embarrassed with the recovery of a fresh polio case after a gap of nearly six years, the Health Department has chalked out a new strategy to initiate a special polio immunisation programme in the area. Dr Harsh Sharma, in charge of the Pulse Polio programme, said a proposal regarding extension of polio immunisation days had been forwarded to the Health Directorate. Besides this, additional immunisation teams will be deputed in the area to conduct a survey as the polio virus could infect other children also. He added that efforts would be made to ascertain if all the eligible children were administered the polio vaccine.