Kolkata: After more than 10 years, a new variant of polio virus has been detected in Kolkata triggering concern for the Health department and Kolkata Municipal Corporation as well. All the medical colleges and government hospitals in the state have been alerted.
However, fears that the dreaded polio virus has resurfaced after being eradicated eight years ago were dispelled by medical experts who examined the virus found in the city sewage here and found it inactive.
According to health ministry sources, Vaccine derived Polio virus was detected in the environmental surveillance of sewage and not Wild polio virus. The National Institute of Virology Mumbai did the genetic sequencing, the sources said.It can occur in any country where Oral Polio vaccine is given. A senior official of the Bengal Health department said the virus found in the sewage of Borough No 15 in the city's Metiabruz area is Vaccine derived Polio virus and is not threatening.
The polio virus was detected in the Metiabruz area in a joint venture with UNICEF. Surveys are conducted occasionally in different slum areas of Kolkata. The last time polio was detected was in a child in Howrah in 2011.
In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared India a polio-free country. The new instance has become a concern for the health department. All the government hospitals and medical colleges have also been directed to keep a special vigil on children who have low immunity.
They have also been asked to test stool samples of such children. Emphasis has also been laid on vaccination.
According to health department sources, polio germs have been detected in the sewage water in the Metiabruz area, due to which surveillance has been triggered in the Metiabruz area. The health department has been emphasizing that there should be no public defecation anywhere in the Metiabruz area after the polio virus is detected. In 2011, a 12-year-old girl from Howrah was diagnosed with polio. India was announced as a polio-free country on March 27, 2014.
After this, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has ordered an inquiry. During the Covid epidemic there was some laxity regarding polio vaccination, but now polio vaccination will be started again rapidly. Borough 15 Chairman Ranjit Sheel said that there was no polio in the Garden Reach area before the lockdown. According to an official, polio vaccination was going well, but during the lockdown, polio vaccination was not done in the Garden Reach area. People could not be made aware of polio.
Deputy Mayor Atin Ghosh said that polio cases were eradicated after rigorous campaigns. Earlier, people had some reluctance to get vaccination.
The number of vaccinations has reduced. On June 2, an awareness programme was carried out to make people aware about polio vaccination, Ghosh said.