Polio cases: Health secretary doubts vaccine efficacy

Khan says dengue larvae detected in city parks not alarming.

LAHORE:

The polio cases reported recently in the province may have been because of  vaccine inefficiency, Health Secretary Jehanzeb Khan said on Monday.

Khan said an investigation had revealed that the disease had been diagnosed in these cases despite the administration of at least three doses each of the vaccines.

The secretary was speaking to the media at the King Edward Medical University council room on Monday. He said experts were also considering whether or not vaccination had been ineffective in these cases because of weak immune response caused by malnutrition.

Khan said the vaccination had been successful in controlling polio in up to 95 per cent areas of the province.

Eight polio cases were reported in the province in 2011.

Dengue virus:

Secretary Khan said dengue larvae had been found in some parks of the city in an ongoing campaign against the breeding sites of the mosquito in the city. However, he said, the density of the larvae detected was very low so there was no immediate danger of an outbreak.

He said while there was a possibility that the mosquito may have developed immunity to cold weather, nothing could be said in this respect without further research.

About the recent deaths attributed to dengue fever, Khan said investigation was underway to ascertain whether these deaths had been caused by dengue or some other disease.

He said preliminary finding of a low platelet count in several patients, recently brought to city hospitals for treatment of dengue fever, was found to have been caused in reaction to a medicine. He said a committee of pharmacologists was probing the matter and would submit a final report in a few days. He said action would be taken against the manufacturer of the medicine if it is found ineffective.

Khan said the campaign against dengue virus was underway at three levels. Committees headed by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and the health secretary, and a provisional implementation committee, were separately working for eradicating mosquito breeding sites.

The services of lady health workers will soon be used to carry out a campaign against the virus at homes and covered structures in urban areas.

Academic council to decide college restoration

The Health Department will consider a proposal to restore King Edward Medical College (KEMC) as a constituent college of the King Edward Medical University (KEMU) only if such a proposal was endorsed by the KEMU academic council, Health Secretary Jehanzeb Khan told The Express Tribune. He said Gujranwala Medical College had been made a constituent medical college of the University of Health Sciences (UHS) in a similar manner.

KEMU Vice Chancellor Dr Asad Aslam Khan, however, ruled out the possibility. He said the academic council did not support the idea.

Five former KEMC principals had earlier written a letter to the secretary and suggested that the college be restored as a constituent college of the King Edward Medical University.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2012.