Indian state on alert as polio strain found in sewage water

The virus was found in a sample taken from the Amberpet sewerage treatment plant on May 17.

The oral polio vaccine (OPV) is not unlike any other vaccine, and consists of small amount of the weakened virus, which stays in the intestine for a small period and helps the body develop immunity by building anti-bodies against the virus.

The virus was found in the checks conducted as part of the monitoring system put in place after polio was eradicated in the country in 2011. Telangana health officials told Scroll.in that the virus found was a vaccine-derived strain of the virus. “Therefore, chances of its transmission in concerned area is unlikely”, it said. Children between the ages of six weeks to three years will be given additional doses of the injectable polio vaccine, Rao added.

It said vaccination campaigns were initiated and that no children had been affected.

However, as a precautionary measure, the ministry will hold a special immunization drive in the high-risk areas of Telangana.

India plans to urgently immunize around 300,000 children against the crippling polio virus after a strain of the highly contagious disease was detected in sewage in the southern city of Hyderabad, the ministry of health said on Wednesday. The polio-free certification pertains to the absence of wild poliovirus and thus country remains polio-free.

A child receives polio drops during a polio eradication programme in Jammu. In one such study in Hyderabad in April, out of 30 samples collected, one sample from Amberpet nala contained traces of type-2 VDPV.

The OPV contains live virus particles that get excreted by babies who are given the vaccine and gets into the sewage. None of these VDPVs detected in the sewage infected any children, so far.

The inactivated polio vaccine injection will be given in a phased manner and all the volunteers from the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and Rotary Club will participate in the campaign.

Some city doctors claimed there has been a shortage of the injectable polio vaccine (IPV) since the end of past year. Polio vaccination is being carried out at worldwide borders and is a must for people travelling to polio affected countries.

“Most likely a child released it through a stool who must have been vaccinated a year ago”.