Mass vaccination in Bangladesh to halt the spread of Polio

The recent re-emergence of polio in Bangladesh has prompted a vaccination campaign aimed at as many as 18 million children the age of 5.

Authorities believe it is necessary to combat the virus which had been eradicated from the country five years ago.

Bangladesh's Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain says the vaccination campaign will be carried out in 3 nationwide rounds which began on the weekend.

Hossain says the second and third rounds of vaccination are scheduled for May 13 and June 11.

Apparently 24 million doses of an oral vaccine have been acquired under the Global Polio Eradication Campaign, a partnership between UNICEF, Rotary International, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the government and the WHO, Bangladesh successfully carried out extensive vaccination programs in 1995-2004, and the last polio case reported was in August 2000.

The country's efforts to be designated as polio-free were railroaded when a 9-year-old girl in the eastern district of Chandpur became paralyzed by the P1 polio virus.

The WHO says polio remains endemic in India, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan and in 2005 alone 1,880 people were infected with polio worldwide, 749 of them in Nigeria, which is nevertheless a drop from the 350,000 before 1988, when WHO launched its anti-polio campaign.

The polio virus invades the nervous system and can cause permanent paralysis within hours and can be fatal.

It is usually spread through water when people, often young children, who are not vaccinated come into contact with the feces of those with the virus.

UNICEF has launched a huge publicity campaign to inform parents about the vaccination program.

The 13-million-dollar immunisation programme aims to vaccinate every child in the country in order to wipe out the disease.

More then 600,000 volunteers and 120,000 centres will be involved, and door-to-door visits will ensure no child is excluded.

Arun Thapa, head of the WHO rapid response team says the situation is a public health emergency but to date no other case has been found.

Thapa says WHO workers will remain in the country for six months after the immunisation programme to monitor the situation.