Karnataka puts behind polio setback

Karnataka, which celebrated the non-existence of new polio cases for two years (2001 and 2002), has been shaken awake by the shocking discovery of polio cases that have surfaced in the state.

While no new case have been detected in the state since mid-2004, early 2004 saw one case in the northeastern part of the state after 36 polio virus cases in some districts in 2003.

From one case to 36, the virus spread fast and areas where the immunisation coverage was poor surrendered to the scourge and soon large parts of the state have been run over by the disease.

Explaining the spread of the polio virus in Karnataka, Dr Pawan Murthy, regional co-co-ordinator, WHO, said: "The polio virus has found its way into the state through north eastern Karnataka, most likely due to migration from Uttar Pradesh. It has been a tough fight since 2003. It has now been one year since the last polio case was recorded in Karnataka," he added.

"Karnataka this time is gearing up to eradicate the virus. The state government has developed an effective public health campaign model involving the Centre, WHO, Rotary Internationals and UNICEF to achieve this," said Mohamed Sanaulla, Karnataka commissioner for health and family welfare.

The polio immunisation rounds this year (April 10) has come at a time when the number of cases recorded across the country are at a historic low, said Murthy.

Dr A K Antony, project officer, health and nutrition, UNICEF said the country has come a long way. As a result of it adopting the universal immunisation programme, the number of polio cases has fallen from nearly 30,000 in 1987 to less than 10,000 by 1995.

Since then the country has reported 1,600 cases in 2002, across 159 districts. Now the disease has been checked to just 136 cases across 44 districts in 2004.

As per the Government of India and WHO's joint national polio surveillance project data, the following is the incidence of polio cases as on February 25: Uttar Pradesh 82, Bihar 41, Maharashtra 3, Delhi, Haryana and West Bengal 2 each, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttaranchal one each.

Currently, the transmission of polio virus is restricted geographically to only three major regions "" western UP, central Bihar and Mumbai-Thane. Of these, the majority of cases reported are confined to only two states, UP and Bihar.