The Telangana government sounded an alert against the polio virus that was reportedly spotted in the Amberpet Nala and directed the official machinery to take up an awareness drive followed by vaccination for all six week- to 3-year-old children.
Taking a cue from Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Telangana Health Minister C Lakshma Reddy directed the top officials of the health department including Principal Secretary Rajeshwar Tiwari to take up the vaccination drive for 3 lakh children from June 20 to 26 across the State including in 12 mandals in Hyderabad.
As per a study through 30 samples, officials identified the virus as Polio Virus Type-2, and efforts are on to eradicate it. Reddy said that there was no need of panic as the government was fully geared to tackle the problem. The Health Minister also said that besides WHO and UNICEF teams, special medical and voluntary organization teams were working to fight the virus. A focus is on the PHCs near the Amberpet Nala area.
It has been decided to vaccinate about 2,81,812 children in 12 locations who are suspected to have the virus. Reddy cautioned parents to avoid negligence and vaccinate their children immediately, and said that medicines were available free of cost.
filed in:Healthcare, Vaccinations, C Laxma Reddy, Health, Epidemics, Children, Telangana