After India, other SE Asian countries opting for fractional

Amid a global shortage of injectable inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) polio vaccine, countries in the South East Asian region have now opted for fractional doses of IPV, first adopted by India, to tackle these "challenging conditions", the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.
On the 6th anniversary of the last case of wild polio virus in the region, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia Poonam Khetrapal Singh said that by introducing fractional doses of IPV, nations are not only saving vaccine cost but also not compromising on the protection that it provides to the children against polio.
"On the sixth anniversary of the last case of wild polio virus in the SEAR (South East Asian Region), WHO commends countries in the Region for their continued efforts to protect children against this crippling virus and maintain the region's polio-free status, despite challenging conditions.

"Amid a global shortage of injectable IPV, countries in the WHO SEAR are opting to use fractional doses of IPV, an evidence-based intervention that not only ensures continued protection of children against all types of polio viruses, but also helps save vaccine -- a move bound to positively impact global vaccine supply in the coming years," Singh said.
WHO said that India became the first country globally to introduce fractional doses of IPV in childhood immunisation programme in eight states and Union territories in early 2016.
While this initiative is now being scaled up nationwide, Sri Lanka has also followed suit in July 2016 while Bangladesh has decided to introduce fractional IPV doses this year.

Other countries in the Region are also considering a shift to the use of fractional IPV doses in their immunisation schedule, Singh said.

"Studies have confirmed that two fractional doses (one fractional dose is one-fifth of a full dose) of IPV, given twice to infants -- first at the age of six weeks and then at 14 weeks -- provide the same protection against all polio viruses as does one full dose of IPV.
Since polio-free certification on March 27, 2014, all
countries in WHO South East Asia Region have been working towards timely implementation of the global polio endgame strategy to achieve a polio-free world.

South East Asia was the first WHO Region to complete the polio vaccine switch from the traditionally used trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV) to the bivalent vaccine (bOPV) to prevent any paralysis caused by type 2 polio virus strain in tOPV.
"As a part of the global polio endgame strategy, countries in the Region have introduced IPV to supplement the oral polio vaccine (OPV), and ensure protection against all types of polio viruses, while the programme globally strives towards stopping polio virus transmission and cessation of OPV use," Singh said.
She said that January 13, 2011, the last time that wild polio virus crippled a child in WHO South-East Asia Region, should be a reminder to all countries of the continued need to reach every child with polio vaccines and to strengthen disease surveillance so that polio virus does not return to cripple children in our Region.

WHO's SEAR comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.