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Friday 11 April 2014

Polio warrior's mission is far from over : Bangalore

"India has shown the world that there is no such thing as impossible. This is probably the greatest lesson, and the greatest inspiration for the rest of the world," said Dr Margaret Chan, director-general, World Health Organization, on her visit to India in February to commemorate the country's success in eradication of polio.

The message was also a tribute to lakhs of volunteers, medical community, governmental and non-governmental organizations who've made this possible. Like Bangalore-based doctor, B P Subramanya.The42-year-old surveillance medical officer with Polio Surveillance Project-India, WHO, was recently honoured for his "efforts in making India polio-free".

One of the eight surveillance officers from Karnataka honoured by the WHO, polio eradication has been Dr Subramanya's mission ever since he joined the organization in 2000.

Sitting at the first floor of the centuryold colonial structure of Epidemic Diseases Hospital on Old Madras Road, Dr Subramanya recalls, "While studying medicine in Kolar Medical College, I would see a lot of paralyzed children seeking treatment and asking for physical disability certificate. I felt the need to do something. When I went for the WHO interview, I said I did not mind working in Bihar, one of the worst affected by polio."

He has worked in remote tribal areas of Bihar and Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), where vaccine had to be carried on shoulders along with ice packets in hilly areas by walking for days together. "Pulse Polio has reached the remotest, inaccessible areas due to the hard efforts of officials and volunteers. We must thank all Indian parents who got their kids vaccinated against the disease," he says.

Now that the nation has been declared polio-free, is it time to relax and celebrate? "Not at all," he says, adding a word of caution, "The virus has not gone from earth. It is still present in eastern Mediterranean region and parts of Africa. We should be doubly careful now. But I hope one day, oral polio vaccination becomes a thing of the past like the small pox vaccination." He said they are currently focusing on vaccinating children for hepatitis and pentavalent vaccination.

Sign of the ailment

Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP), or the sudden onset of muscle weakness leading to paralysis among children, is a neurological disorder. One cause of AFP is infection due to polio virus. "The virus will be in the intestine. For children with AFP symptoms , we take stool samples twice with a gap 24 hours. The samples have so far proved negative for polio virus, thus the eradication of polio has been successful. There are non-polio AFP cases as well," said Subramanya. 




Source : TOI , 9th April 2014

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