Polio war reaches 18 districts from 8, Eradication target gets a jolt
DEV KUMAR SUNUWAR
KATHMANDU, AUG 12 –
The Department of Health under the Ministry of Health and Population is launching a mop-up campaign against polio on Aug. 14 and 15, targeting the children below five years of age in 18 districts, including Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.
Such a move is a sequel to the detection of five polio cases in Mahottari and Rautahat districts this year. This new campaign is the third one in just two weeks.
Such a campaign featuring door-to-door immunisation programme is rolled out when the polio virus starts transmitting quickly among many individuals, according to Rajendra Prasad Ghimire, senior public health officer at immunisation unit under the Department.
Of the total five polio cases recently, one was seen in Mahottari and four in Rautahat. Increasing cases of polio has not only shocked health officials working for its eradication, but also have dampened the government’s commitment to meet its goal to eradicate polio from the country by 2012.
Acting on the call of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the government first had targeted to eradicate polio by 2002, later by 2005 and lastly by 2012.
“But the rapid transmission of the polio viruses has struck the government’s goal to meet the commitment,” said Department’s immunisation programme chief Krishna Bahadur Chand.
On 21 Feb. this year, the first polio case was detected on five-year-and-eight month-old Rameswore Mandal in Mahottari.
Polio cases were also detected on two-year-old Gupharana Khatun of Rautahat on May 4, on two-year-and-two-month-old Priyanka Yadhav on May 29, on eight-month-old Mohamad Sajit of Rautahat on 9 June and on eight-month-old Sanjida Khatun on 12 June.
Following the detection, Nepali and WHO surveillance medical officers as well as medical officers are working days and nights to contain the virus, said Chand.
According to officials, all the five cases had P1 type of polio virus, which is considered less communicable compare to P3 type. While three of the cases were transmitted locally, the remaining were communicated from the Indian state of Bihar due to frequent border movement. Bangkok-based National Institute of Health has also confirmed this.
Earlier to this, all polio cases entered Nepal from bordering Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Of all the three types of polio, P-3 had been detected in the country in 2000. The last original case of P-1 was found in 1999. The P-2 type has been eradicated from Nepal.
When polio viruses were detected the districts had ran out of vaccines. The rapid transmission of the virus has prompted the health department to expand the immunisation programme in 18 districts.
In the first and second rounds of vaccination drive, the Department distributed vaccines only in eight districts—Saptari, Siraha, Sarlahi, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Rautahat, Bara and Parsa.
In the third round, it is distributing vaccines in 10 more districts—Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Chitwan, Makawanpur, Udayapur, Sindhuli, Morang and Sunsari from Aug. 14-15.
POLIO CASES IN NEPAL
Year No. of cases Detected in
1999 2 cases (Type P1) Banke, Saptari
2000 4 cases (Type P3) Siraha, Mahottari, Dhanusa, Rautahat
2005 4 cases (Type P1) Sarlahi, Rautahat
2007 5 cases (Type P3) Siraha, Dhanush
2008 6 cases (Type P3) Rautahat, Sarlahi, Dhanusha, Bajura,
Bardiya, Rupandehi
2010 5 cases (Type P1) Mahottari, Rautahat
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