When civic officials confirmed the second case of polio in less than two weeks, the state’s dream of becoming polio free went up in smoke.
Sandeep Ashar
When civic officials confirmed the second case of polio in the city on Saturday in less than two weeks, the state’s dream of becoming polio free by 2007 went up in smoke.
But the mood was far from sombre at the BMC health department. “Sunday is our weekly off,” said an official. “We will take stock of the problem on Monday.” DNA found out that most senior health officials seemed ill-informed about the case. BMC health committee chairman Mangal Bhanushali did not know about one-year-old Faizal Sheikh’s diagnosis. Dr SG Damle, medical director (Health), refused to divulge details.
“We will summon a meeting of all BMC health officers on Monday,” he said. “They will be briefed on preventive measures.”
Sheikh had tested positive for polio three days ago. When questioned on why the BMC failed to disclose the information earlier, executive health officer (BMC) Dr Jairaj Thanekar, said, “The case was first reported in September. Protocol dictates that only the state can announce detection of a polio case. We informed it on Sunday.”
Thanekar added, “Sheikh’s stool samples were sent to Ahmedabad’s National Institute of Virology for confirmation in September. We embarked on a ring immunisation drive in the area.”
Thanekar refused to be drawn into the discussion on whether the child got infected in Mumbai or Uttar Pradesh. “That will only be confirmed after a thorough investigation,” he said. “It will take a month.”
BMC plans to send a team of medics to survey other susceptible cases in the area soon. A team of doctors from Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital in Sion, headed by paediatric surgeon Madhuri Kulkarni, will visit the Sheikhs on Monday and offer Faizal medical help. Unless states like UP strengthen their polio programme, Maharashtra can never be free from polio.
(With inputs from Shubhangi Khapre & Deepa Suryanarayan)
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