State Govt. start mass vaccination drive.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
The Telangana government declared a global emergency on Tuesday after the health department of the state confirmed the existence of an active strain of wild poliovirus (P2 strain) in Hyderabad.
The strain was detected from sewage water sample collected from the Amberpet sewerage treatment plant on May 17. It was collected as part of routine checking in which 30 samples were collected, reported The Times of India.
Acting swiftly, the government airlifted two lakh vaccines from Geneva to start a mass vaccination drive targeting more than three lakh children in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy district. The government initiated preventive measures on Wednesday itself.
“The government has decided to conduct a special campaign against polio in Hyderabad and parts of Ranga Reddy from June 20 to June 26,” Rajeshwar Tiwari, principal secretary, health told The Times of India.
The presence of Vaccine Derived Polio Virus (VDPV) strain has not been reported in Indiain five years. The oral polio vaccine administered now does not contain the P2 strain as no cases of P2 have not been reported for many years.
“In this case, the P2 strain is vaccine derived. Someone vaccinated 10 months to a year back released the strain through stool. Such rare cases happen when a child’s immunity is very low. To avoid such stray cases, that happens one in a million, the P2 strain is no longer given even in vaccines,” Dr. G Srinivasa Rao, chief program officer, National Health Mission, Telangana was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
Meanwhile, the government said that India continues to be a polio free country as no cases have been reported since 2011.
“The country has eradicated the wild polio virus and the last case was seen on 13th January 2011, and it is more than five years that no wild poliovirus has been detected,” a government statement said.
The government is aiming to give additional doses of Injected Polio Vaccine (IPV) to children aged between six weeks to three years. Special camps will be set up for this and parents will have to take their children to the camps.
The government has assured that WHO standards will be followed throughout the program.
1 Comment
Sir/Madam
Why we canot give ipv more than 3 years and below 5 years