Children in western Uttar Pradesh (UP) will now be vaccinated every month against polio. This was recommended by the India Expert Advisory Group (IEAG), at a meeting held between December 11-12, 2006, to stem the rise of polio cases.
IEAG emphasises that the programme is not a failure. They attribute the recent spurt in polio cases in UP to ineffective immunisation at the end of 2005 and the first half of 2006. With systems strengthened, IEAG wants the final push. It says the state has a higher incidence of polio because the trivalent vaccine--which targets all strains of poliovirus--is ineffective in the area. In Moradabad and J P Nagar, where polio has struck children below two, the supposedly more potent inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) will be used in the second quarter of 2007. IPV is given post eradication.
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