Adding an intramuscular dose of inactivated polio virus boosts immunity in children.
PARACHINAR, KURRAM AGENCY: The story of our many human errors in eradicating polio is 37 years old. In the year 2000, the bureaucracy sent an unsubstantiated report to the WHO in which it was claimed that Pakistan had achieved the goal of eradicating polio from the country. After a short period, a true report received at the WHO office through their own sources stated that new polio cases have been identified in Pakistan. At that time the polio was Genotype 3 while the vaccines that were being given were to treat Genotype 2.
In the last seven months alone, more than a hundred new cases and this is a matter of grave concern. Recent research published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet has revealed that adding an intramuscular dose of inactivated polio virus boosts immunity in children who have already received the oral vaccine. We too can benefit from this new tool to eradicate polio in places where it is endemic with some extra efforts and expenditures.
Dr Mukhtar Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th, 2014.
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