Migrants may change Mumbai’s polio stats

The polio round scheduled to be held on July 18 in Mumbai is likely to have the Bivalent vaccine for the first time.

This is despite the fact that there has not been a single polio case in the city since 2008. But the authorities fear that with the increasing migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, there are possibilities of polio cases being reported in the city. 

Out of the three strains of wild polio virus — P1, P2 and P3, the P2 virus was eliminated in 1999. The Bivalent vaccine is effective against the P1 and P3 virus strains and thus considered to be important to eradicate polio virus. It was launched in Bihar last year to curb the increasing cases there. 

“We are most likely to get the Bivalent vaccine in the polio round on July 18. It will tremendously help our ongoing efforts to eradicate polio from the country,” said Dr Mangala Gomare, assistant health officer, polio surveillance, BMC. 

According to Gomare, more than 30% migrants in Mumbai are from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and the number is increasing each day. “Even if there are no polio cases in the city, due to the migrant population there are possibilities of getting a few.

If Bivalent vaccine is administered, it would take care of both the polio strains at once,” said Gomare, adding that the polio round will cover Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai.

In 2009, India had more than 700 cases of polio. This year till June, only 22 polio cases have been recorded.

In Mumbai, there has not been a single case of polio since 2008. Also, the last wild polio virus in sewage sample was found in December 2009 in Mumbai.