‘Polio vaccine is up to standards’
Experts clear suspicions about polio vaccine at media briefing.
LAHORE:
The oral polio vaccine (OPV) is 100 per cent effective and there has been no question about its efficacy, Dr Zahid Pervaiz, the Mayo Hospital medical superintendent, said on Thursday.
His remarks were backed by Prof Nosheen Aziz, the department of social and preventive paediatrics head at the King Edward Medical University, who said that the vaccine was up to international standards. She said results of a 2011 survey showed that only one polio case had been reported in the Punjab. The two experts were addressing a joint press conference at Mayo Hospital on Thursday. Dr Pervaiz said that before OPV was being supplied to the Health Department, it was tested and verified for efficacy. He said children needed to be vaccinated repeatedly to maintain an effective immunity level.
He said that the cold chain, a standard temperature required for polio vaccine, was maintained from the time it was manufactured to the time it was given to a child. He said that the transportation and storage of OPV was being managed at the recommended temperature and there was “no question of any disruption of the cold chain.”
Prof Aziz, said that the OPV had a heat sensitive vaccine vial monitor (VVM) that changed its colour in case of any disruption in the cold chain. This change, she said, had been reported occurred in one in 30 million doses. She said Pakistan was one of the three countries where polio threat still persisted, besides Afghanistan and Nigeria.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2012.
The oral polio vaccine (OPV) is 100 per cent effective and there has been no question about its efficacy, Dr Zahid Pervaiz, the Mayo Hospital medical superintendent, said on Thursday.
His remarks were backed by Prof Nosheen Aziz, the department of social and preventive paediatrics head at the King Edward Medical University, who said that the vaccine was up to international standards. She said results of a 2011 survey showed that only one polio case had been reported in the Punjab. The two experts were addressing a joint press conference at Mayo Hospital on Thursday. Dr Pervaiz said that before OPV was being supplied to the Health Department, it was tested and verified for efficacy. He said children needed to be vaccinated repeatedly to maintain an effective immunity level.
He said that the cold chain, a standard temperature required for polio vaccine, was maintained from the time it was manufactured to the time it was given to a child. He said that the transportation and storage of OPV was being managed at the recommended temperature and there was “no question of any disruption of the cold chain.”
Prof Aziz, said that the OPV had a heat sensitive vaccine vial monitor (VVM) that changed its colour in case of any disruption in the cold chain. This change, she said, had been reported occurred in one in 30 million doses. She said Pakistan was one of the three countries where polio threat still persisted, besides Afghanistan and Nigeria.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2012.