2-year-old girl diagnosed with rare polio virus

A two-year-old girl was diagnosed with a rare Vaccine Derived Polio Virus (VDPV) weeks back in Harsh Vihar area in Shahadra here, said Delhi government authorities on Tuesday.

“The virus was isolated from a 25-month-old girl child. The case saw the onset of paralysis on October 1, 2015.

The case has been investigated and found to be immunodeficient,” according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) website. The Health Ministry released a statement that India is “polio-free” and this is an isolated case. 

“The occurrence of this case should not be confused with the wild polio virus that was responsible for paralysis of thousands of children each year until it was eradicated from India in 2011,” said the ministry’s release.  

This condition can occur in a person with a rare immunodeficient disorder because the body does not initiate an immune response to the vaccine as a healthy child would, the release added. 

The Delhi government confirmed the case in which the child was diagnosed with a rare P2 strain.