High numbers of acute flaccid paralysis add to India�s polio worries

Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) is considered to be a precursor to polio. Many Indian states that have so far been polio-free showed up high numbers of this condition in a national survey

Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases, which is largely considered to be a precursor to polio, according to the recently-released National Polio Surveillance Project Survey 2006. Worryingly, Maharashtra, which has been polio-free for two years prior to 2006, ranks fifth in the number of AFP cases.

As of October 2006, Uttar Pradesh had 9,111 AFP cases, according to the nationwide survey, followed by Bihar, which recorded 5,014 cases, West Bengal, 1,300 cases, and Madhya Pradesh 901 cases. Maharashtra recorded 894 cases.

The first polio case in Maharashtra this year, and the first polio cases in the city of Mumbai, were all initial cases of AFP.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) considers AFP to be an indicator of the presence of polio virus. Surveillance of AFP cases is done to identify reservoirs of wild polio virus transmission. This includes the reporting of all AFP cases, investigating them and conducting lab tests of stool samples collected from these cases for polio viruses in specialised laboratories.

When polio virus transmission has been reduced to well defined and focal geographic areas after the surveillance, intensive child-to-child immunisation campaigns are conducted to break the final links of virus transmission.

Source: Hindustan Times, October 26, 2006

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