Polio virus was from UP: Health minister

Shubhangi Khapre/Deepa Suryanarayan 

Chaos reigned in the corridors of Mantralaya and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday as state minister of health Vimal Mundada contradicted her own secretary of health Dr Vijay Satbir Singh as to the origins of the recent polio virus detected in a 9-year-old resident of Govandi. 

Dr Singh had indicated on Thursday that the virus may have originated in Mumbai, and not in Uttar Pradesh as originally reported.

But Mundada disagreed. “It is absolutely clear that the nature of the virus, now detected as P-I, is a strain from Uttar Pradesh,” she said.

Dr Singh’s explanation puts the onus on the BMC, which has been mandated by the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act to run immunisation programmes in the city.

He hinted that problems arose because the civic body had failed to carry out the polio immunisation drive “properly” in hospitals under its jurisdiction. Since the BMC has administrative control on a majority of Mumbai hospitals, and its role is limited to policy-making, the implementation has to be done by BMC workers. “I don’t want to get into the blame game or accuse any agency,” Mundada said.

“All state agencies will have to coordinate to make the state polio-free through improved sanitation and an effective polio campaign.”

Meanwhile, Johny Joseph, BMC chief, went on the offensive on Friday by appointing a panel of medical experts to further examine 9-year-old Nazali Sheikh, who was recently diagnosed with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP or limp limbs). He has asked the panel to prepare a comprehensive report.

Dr Jayraj Thanekar, BMC executive health officer, confirmed, “A panel headed by Dr Madhuri Kulkarni, head of paediatric surgery at Sion Hospital, will conduct further investigations. The panel will also include two neurologists, two paediatricians and a physiotherapist.”

But whether the Sheikhs will allow their daughter to be put through a battery of tests is anyone’s guess. Nissar, Nazali’s father, had refused the BMC’s offer for free medical care at Sion Hospital. He wanted a private physician from Mazagaon to treat Nazali.  

Thanekar said, “We have approached social workers in Govandi to persuade the family to accept the BMC’s offer for treatment. They have already visited the family on Friday.” Thanekar added that Nazali’s case papers are “confusing”.
 
“She has undergone treatment at different times,” he said. “The experts seem to think the virus may have passed into the sewage system. If this is the case, other children could also be potential carriers of the virus.” 

Experts said though the virus causes paralysis and death, many people who do contract the virus do not fall sick. They are not even aware they have been infected. Yet, they can still shed the virus intermittently in their stools for several weeks or months.

In areas that have poor sanitation, a single person harbouring the virus can potentially infect hundreds of people, before the first case can even be detected. What’s more, immunised children and adults also can carry the virus, infecting others and sometimes contaminating the sewage systems. “These are some of the reasons why we want to examine the case further,” Thanekar added.

But BMC’s entire gameplan may unravel if the patient’s family refuses to accept its help for treatment. “This will all be possible only if the patient accepts our treatment,” Thanekar said.