An 11-month-old boy from Maharashtra's Beed district has been found
infected with the vaccine derived polio virus (VDPV). This is the first
such case in the state and the third in the country since March 2012.
Health officials said the boy's stool sample tested positive for VDPV
on June 1. "The child has been ill for prolonged periods, indicating the
possibility of immunodeficiency," an official said.
The discovery does not threaten the polio-free status that India was
recently awarded. Detecting VDPV is part of the surveillance system,
but it does not get enumerated when putting together a country's polio
numbers. Only infections caused by wild polio virus strains like P1 and
P3 get counted, not P2 strain that causes VDPV infection.
"Detailed follow-up investigations are being carried out. The child had
high grade fever. He suffered paralysis in all four limbs thereafter and
a bout of convulsion," said H V Wadgave, district reproductive and
child health officer. "Such a case of VDPV is found if the immunity of
the child is low, it suffers from chronic illnesses of the heart or kidney or if it is severely malnourished. In such cases, the P2 virus mutates and can cause paralysis.''
Oral polio vaccines (OPVs) contain a weakened version of poliovirus,
activating an immune response in the body. A vaccinated person transmits
the weakened virus to others, who also develop antibodies to polio,
ultimately stopping transmission of poliovirus in a community. Experts
say that in very rare instances, the virus in the vaccine can mutate
into a form that can cause paralysis, as in the Beed infant's case.
Stool samples of the children and neighbours residing nearby will be sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, to rule out spread
of the virus. "Around 45 samples from different age groups have been
collected. Eight samples each from age groups 0-5 years, 5-10 years,
10-15 years and above 15 will be sent along with the samples of family members," Wadgave said. A survey of the immunization coverage in the village is also being conducted.
Circulating VDPVs in the past have been rapidly stopped with 2-3 rounds
of high-quality immunization campaigns. The solution is the same for
all polio outbreaks: immunize every child several times with the oral
vaccine to stop polio transmission, regardless of the origin of the
virus.
The infant is presently being treated at Latur's government medical college.
World Health Organisation doctors have been stationed at his village for the last two days.
Source : TOI , 7th June 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment