THREE YEARS ago, Maharashtra was close to being declared a polio-free state. Now it seems there is no stopping the deadly virus.

Barely a month after a one-year-old boy from Govandi was diagnosed with polio, 14-month-old Raj Arjun Gupta from Bhiwandi has been found to be suffering from the crippling virus after stool sample tests at the Enterovirus Research Centre at Haffkine's Institute confirmed that the toddler is afflicted with the P3 strain of polio.

Gupta was born in Uttar Pradesh and currently lives in a slum in Gayatri Nagar area where his father works as a daily wage labourer. Though Gupta had received eight doses of the oral polio vaccine during immunisation rounds he had not received any routine immunisation after birth, making him susceptible to the virus.

"Unfortunately this case was a failure of routine immunisation. Infants are given three polio doses at 6 weeks, 10 weeks and 14 weeks. Gupta completely missed this along with other vaccines given to children," said State director of Health Services Dr Prakash Doke.

Dr Doke also said they would only be able to assess the damage only after 60 days. Mohammed Asif from Govandi was also diagnosed with the P3 polio virus.

The state had been immunising children against the P1 vaccine, which spreads fast, but since Asif was diagnosed with P3, the focus has shifted to the P3 strain.

In March and April children were given a monovalent P3 vaccine.

"The entire last year we gave given children P1 vaccine so the virus has come under control. Only 4 cases of P1 polio have been reported in the country in 2008. Now we need to focus on the P3 vaccine," said BMC's immunisation incharge Dr Usha Ubale.

The two polio cases this year have taken Maharashtra even further from its dream of being declared a poliofree state.

URL: http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/artMailDisp.aspx?article=23_05_2008_007_005&typ=0&pub=264