Vaccinated kids get polio

Admitting that the cases had been detected, District Collector Manukumar Shrivastava said an intensive vaccination drive will be carried out in Mouda area on January 19, 20 and 21.

The Collector said in spite of being vaccinated, there remains a five per cent possibility of a child getting infected.

“No vaccine in the world can guarantee a hundred per cent protection,” confirmed child specialist Dr Sanjiv Prakash Chugh.

When contacted by The Indian Express he explained that there is also every possibility of the children in question being affected by some other virus. It is not only the polio virus but some other entero-viruses that cause “acute flaccid paralysis,” he explained.In other words, these viruses also produce “polio-like” symptoms, he said.

The children cannot be said to be infected by the polio virus until a blood test confirms that, he said.

If indeed it is the polio virus, the reasons for the failure of vaccination could be several. The potency of the vaccine could be affected by improper refrigeration. Sometimes the child might vomit out the medicine. There are also cases where the child’s immune system is not adequately developed so that it does not produce anti-bodies sought to be induced by vaccination.

Nevertheless, he stressed that cases of failure are far and few between and parents must see it as an important responsibility to get their children vaccinated against polio.

Announcing the results of the pulse polio campaign, Collector Shrivastava informed that the December 6 drive covered 98.33 per cent of the population of children up to five years in rural parts of Nagpur district and 91.06 percent in the urban areas.

The next round of vaccination inthe current is scheduled for January 17. Shrivastava urged people to get their children vaccinated.

The target of this year’s drive is to vaccinate 4.20 lakh children. He also called upon people’s representatives, voluntary organisations, social groups, youth and women’s organisations and professional groups to lend their mite in making the campaign successful by creating awareness.

The January 17 drive will be run through 1,854 vaccination centres in rural Nagpur district and 127 centres in urban parts. The centres will operate between 8 am and 5 pm.