The anti-polio campaign has shown positive results

Ranchi, Sept. 9: The Big B?s exhortations on the small screen to take one?s child to the nearest health centre for a drop of polio vaccine seems to have paid good dividends here. There has been a sharp decline in the number of detected and confirmed cases of polio among children. A few more quality rounds of vaccination drive, and polio could well be on its way out of the country.

From 223 cases in 2003, the number of polio victims came down to 134 in 2004. ?We recorded just 27 cases till yesterday,? informed Kamal Chand Singhal, regional coordinator of World Health Organisation (WHO) drive against polio in Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

Official figures reveal that of the 27 cases, 13 are from Uttar Pradesh and 11 from Bihar. Of the remaining three cases, one each comes from Jharkhand, Uttaranchal and Delhi. The lone case in Jharkhand was detected in February, Singhal said.

?We are launching a sub-national immunisation drive from September 25,? Singhal added. Booth activity will start on September 25 and between September 26 and 27, door-to-door campaign will be undertaken.

?We cannot afford to be complacent with the polio eradication drive in Jharkhand, particularly because of its highly porous border with Bihar,? he said.

?The doctors and officials engaged in this drive have done a commendable job given the risks involved of infections crossing over from the porous border with Bihar. Bihar has 11 cases, afflicted by the P-1 virus,? informed Sumant Mishra, routine immunisation medical officer attached to WHO.

The surveillance staff have been directed to report acute flaccid paralysis cases, too. It is found in one among one lakh people.

A child may also suffer paralysis caused by careless administration of injection, or due to psychological disorder. Hence, it is necessary to collect two samples of excreta at an interval of 14 days ? the period of incubation ? of the suspected case, Mishra said, adding that the samples are then sent to WHO certified laboratories in Calcutta or Delhi for confirmation.

Polio is caused by one of the three types of viruses: P-1, P-2 or P-3. In Bihar, all the 11 cases belong to the P-1 category. In Uttar Pradesh, 10 cases of P-1 and three cases of P-3 were detected.