New Delhi: Despite being vaccinated, a 10-month-old boy in Delhi was on Sunday found to have contracted polio, nearly two months after the capital reported India's first case of the wild polio virus known as P1.

According to Delhi health ministry sources, the baby-boy from a slum in Okhla in south Delhi was found infected with the P3 polio virus.

"The baby has been detected with the less virulent form of virus. This is Delhi's second case of polio in 2008. We are worried," a senior ministry official told IANS.

He said the fresh victim, identified as Azad, is son of a rickshaw puller. "The kid has also received four doses of polio drops."

Authorities said the new case had again brought the spotlight on Delhi. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit recently said the "city will be polio free soon".

"We had carried out a special round of the polio immunisation programme in the recent past and hope to see some results. The worrying point is that the national capital continues to report fresh polio cases," the official added.

Authorities said they were investigating Azad's case. They said efforts would be made to find out whether the baby had contracted the infection elsewhere.

The baby who was detected in March to be suffering from polio had migrated from Bihar. Till April 25, India has reported 203 cases of polio cases. Of these, Bihar reported 157 cases and Uttar Pradesh 40.

Besides Delhi, Orissa, West Bengal and Haryana have reported polio cases during the last four months.

 

Source : IANS