Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Polio in Maharashtra boy may be 'accidental finding'
Pranav Kulkarni : Latur, Mon Jun 10 2013
Rajabhau Shelke, 28, father of 11-month-old Rohit, who is the latest case of Vaccine Derived Polio Virus (VDPV) in India (third since March 2012), sits helplessly in Government Medical College Hospital, Latur, wondering why his son is unable to move his limbs.
While medical science points to under-immunisation as the prime cause, the family believes it is the vaccine that turned against the boy. "On April 2, we gave Rohit a dose after which he developed a tumour in the leg with fever. While the tumour subsided, the fever has not been cured till date. On April 7, Rohit folded his leg while playing and never stretched it again. My mother has been cursing me for giving Rohit that dose," says Shelke, even as doctors maintain that the dose Shelke may be referring to is an intravenous DPT vaccine and has no connection with polio dose.
Till about two days ago, the doctors were treating Rohit for encephalitis (an acute inflammation of the brain) which was diagnosed by two medical colleges as the cause of paralysis. Dr S M Saraf, Surveillance Medical Officer, Latur, told The Indian Express that the presence of VDPV could well be an 'accidental finding' and that it might not have been the real cause behind Rohit's paralysis.
More: Indian Express
Pranav Kulkarni : Latur, Mon Jun 10 2013
Rajabhau Shelke, 28, father of 11-month-old Rohit, who is the latest case of Vaccine Derived Polio Virus (VDPV) in India (third since March 2012), sits helplessly in Government Medical College Hospital, Latur, wondering why his son is unable to move his limbs.
While medical science points to under-immunisation as the prime cause, the family believes it is the vaccine that turned against the boy. "On April 2, we gave Rohit a dose after which he developed a tumour in the leg with fever. While the tumour subsided, the fever has not been cured till date. On April 7, Rohit folded his leg while playing and never stretched it again. My mother has been cursing me for giving Rohit that dose," says Shelke, even as doctors maintain that the dose Shelke may be referring to is an intravenous DPT vaccine and has no connection with polio dose.
Till about two days ago, the doctors were treating Rohit for encephalitis (an acute inflammation of the brain) which was diagnosed by two medical colleges as the cause of paralysis. Dr S M Saraf, Surveillance Medical Officer, Latur, told The Indian Express that the presence of VDPV could well be an 'accidental finding' and that it might not have been the real cause behind Rohit's paralysis.
More: Indian Express
