Hyderabad: A type 2 vaccine-derived polio virus was isolated from Amberpet and Nagole nalas on August 28 by an environment surveillance team. This is the second instance of the virus being discovered in the city in five months; a polio-derived vaccine virus was earlier found in April in the Amberpet nala.
Following the latest find of the virus, the government’s family welfare department has sent out an alert to all state-run and private hospitals to inform the government if they come across any polio cases.
The presence of the vaccine-derived virus in the environment is a cause of concern as it means that the virus can strike again and there can be polio cases.
Docs sound alarm as polio virus is still around
A type 2 vaccine-derived polio virus was isolated from Amberpet and Nagole nala on August 28 by an environment surveillance team. A senior doctor said, “It’s a major cause of concern for Hyderabad. Earlier it was found only in one nala, in Amberpet. But now it is has been found in two nalas which gives an indication that somewhere some children have been missed (being vaccinated) or the immunity has not built up.
The existence of the virus in the environment means that the polio virus is still around and surveillance at ground level must improve.” In the last session more than one lakh children were administered polio vaccines again.
Despite that, the two nalas have shown presence of the virus, which has got the authorities worried. The health department has been asked to also survey the migrant population as they are often left out from these programs as they travel from one place to another.
