Polio drops fail to immunise children.

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http://in.news./070726/43/6in7m.htmlPolio drops fail to immunise childrenBy IANSThursday July 26, 04:16 PMKendrapada (Orissa), July 26 (IANS) The much-hyped polio immunisationprogramme appears to have come a cropper in Orissa with severalchildren developing polio even after having taken the doses regularly.Sikha Jena, 7, a resident of Charapada village in Kendrapada district,about 150 km from here, is unable to stand on her own.'She was administered polio drops regularly in the past. But it didnot work,' Sikha's father Sukadev Jena said Thursday.Jena ekes out living by working as a daily labourer. 'I have written aletter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for help to treat my daughter'he told IANS.Manidipa Chakrabarti, 9, of

neighbouring Chandol village is sufferingthe same fate. Her father Narayan Chakrabarti alleges that Manidipawas given regular doses of polio drops but her left leg became thinwhen she was only one year old.Three years ago, Narayan had brought the condition of his daughter tothe attention of the UNICEF (United Nation's Children Funds) office instate capital Bhubaneswar after the doctors of the local governmenthospital allegedly denied her treatment.'A UNICEF team examined my daughter and later sent her to the poliohospital at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. It was confirmed that shewas suffering from polio,' Narayan told IANS.Last year, two girls from neighbouring Bilabalarampur village alsofell victim to polio although their parents claimed that healthofficials gave them polio doses.'Health officials with the help of many NGOs have been providing poliodoses to

the children of the district. We have not come across anyfresh cases of polio. If children are suffering from the disease thenthey must not have taken polio drops,' said P. Mohanty, a doctor atthe Kendrapada Government Hospital.'Some families, mostly Muslims, had refused to immunise their childrenin the past. However, we had taken the help of their local religiousleaders and immunised their children,' he said.Additional District Medical Officer (ADMO) Dhaneswar Pradhan said: 'Wewill soon depute a medical team to examine Sikha to confirm whethershe is affected with polio or not.' What if a “dirty bomb” exploded over a large segment of U.S.population that simultaneously exposed citizens to Hepatitis B,Hepatitis A, tetanus, pertussis, diphtheria, three strains of polio viruses, three strains of influenza, measles, mumps, and rubella viruses, two types

of meningitis, four strains of herpes viruses, the chickenpox virus, 7 strains of Streptococcus bacteria, and four strainsof rotavirus.

• We would declare a national emergency.• It would be an “extreme act of BIOTERRORISM• The public outcry would be immense and our government would react accordingly.

And yet, those are the very organisms we inject into our babies and our small children in multiple doses, with immature, underdeveloped immunesystems, many at the same time with vaccines.

But instead of bioterrorism, we call it “protection.” Reflect on that irony.- Dr Sheri Tenpenny, MD

 

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