Last case detected in 2011; India was declared polio-free in 2014
SHILLONG, Aug 14: Over ten years after India was declared polio-free, the Health department is awaiting the reports of a suspected case of polio in Meghalaya.
DHS (MCH & FW), Dr JS Momin told reporters that a two-and-half-year-old child, reportedly from Tikrikilla in West Garo Hills, had gone to Assam for treatment at the Goalpara Civil Hospital.
Stating that a placid paralysis case was reported, she said two samples were collected and sent to testing centres in Kolkata and ICMR-NIV Mumbai unit.
“We are waiting for the final reports. We cannot confirm anything without receiving them,” she said.
She also said that the Health department is conducting further investigations with support from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and they are waiting for further results.
“In the meantime, our staff from WHO has also gone to Tikrikilla to investigate the case and collected samples from the patient as well as the community,” Dr Momin said.
Joint DHS (MCH & FW), Dr B Mawlong said if the child tests positive, then they will have to conduct another test to find out if it is a circulated virus or an immunodeficiency virus. She said immunodeficiency virus will mean it is an isolated case. She added that if it is a circulated virus, then they will have to undertake the screening of the community, including family members. This will entail testing samples of stool and the reports will confirm if it is poliomyelitis.
She said they will need to inform the WHO within six months whenever there is a case of paralysis of the lower limbs involving a child aged below 15 years.
“We cannot say if it is polio or not since there are acute flaccid paralysis which are due to other causes and not only polio. We want to clarify since it has come in the media that poliomyelitis resurfaces in Meghalaya,” she said.
Dr Mawlong said the WHO’s State Surveillance Officer of Shillong, Bongaigaon and Barpeta and Health department officials from West Garo Hills are conducting further investigation.
“The team will be giving an update as and when WHO will confirm the case,” she said.
India, where the last case of wild poliovirus was reported in 2011, was declared polio-free in March 2014 by the WHO.
Vaccination in Tikrikilla is a taboo for villagers who prefer traditional medicines to modern medicines.
The symptoms of poliovirus infection can include fatigue, fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, sore throat, neck stiffness, pain or tingling sensations in the arms and legs, severe headaches, and sensitivity to light (photophobia), among other related symptoms.
While there is no cure for polio, the only preventive measure against it is taking a vaccine.
The virus typically causes acute and short-term infections, with the infected individuals capable of transmitting the virus for less than two weeks in most cases. Humans are the sole reservoir for the virus, and there is no vector involved in its transmission.
Since 2000, over 10 billion doses of Oral Polio Vaccine have been administered to nearly 3 billion children worldwide. This has prevented more than 13 million cases of polio, leading to a reduction of the disease by more than 99%.
Meghalaya is conducting regular Intensified Pulse Polio Immunization Programmes to ensure no polio cases emerge in the state.