Polio scare in Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills, test results awaited

GUWAHATI: Meghalaya is awaiting results from the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Mumbai and the Institute of Serology in Kolkata to determine the nature of a poliomyelitis case reported in a two-year-old boy from a village in West Garo Hills district. The state health department aims to ascertain whether the case is a circulatory vaccine-derived polio virus (VDPV) in the community or an immunocompromised case in a single child.
Samples from the affected child have been sent to the NIV, while samples from 28 other villagers have been sent to the Institute of Serology.A WHO team has been present in the village, located in the Tikrikilla area bordering Assam’s Goalpara district, since last Friday to assess the situation on the ground.
Chief minister Conrad Sangma said, “We are examining the entire issue. It is a very serious situation, and we need to be careful.” He added that the govt is still evaluating various factors and will release an official statement in due course.
P Sampath Kumar, the state’s principal health secretary, said, “Stool sample of the child have been sent to NIV, Mumbai, and stool samples of about 28 people from the community in that area have been sent to Institute of Serology, Kolkata before we can come to a conclusion. We are waiting for a confirmation.”
He added that it normally takes a week’s time for the reports to be ready. He said certain areas within the state have low immunization rates, which can lead to health issues due to compromised immunity levels.
Kumar clarified, “It might be a case of immunocompromised vaccine derived polio virus and may not be circulatory. But if it is circulatory, that is a cause of concern. That is why we have collected stool samples of neighbours and other villagers. 28 such samples have been collected randomly, covering different age groups.”