April 30, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 23, 1429

KARACHI, April 29: The Sindh chapter of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) has decided not to launch any polio mop-up campaign in a North Karachi union council where the country’s fourth confirmed polio case of the year was detected recently.

Normally, the special vaccination drive, known as mop up activity, is launched on a limited scale in a locality where a polio case is detected to boost immunisation among children of up to five years of age to restrict the circulation of the virus.

Talking to Dawn on Tuesday, Sindh EPI’s programme manager Dr Mazhar Khamesani said that mopping up was not possible because of time constraint. Technically, a gap of at least two weeks is advised between two oral polio vaccination campaigns, he said. “Since a three-day national immunisation campaign is being launched on May 6, North Karachi will get an intensive coverage next week.”

The town has reported the first polio case of Karachi this year. The water and sanitation condition in the Jakhrani Mohalla of UC-4, North Karachi, where the polio-affected 11-year-old girl lives, is poor.

The EPI manager said although the overall polio vaccination coverage in the city had been up to the mark in the past, there were a few union councils in every town that lagged behind in anti-polio activities. Such areas now needed a fresh focus, he said. The paralysed girl was admitted to a federal government-run children’s hospital.