THATTA, March 26 About 1010 people were found hepatitis B and C positive out of 12,000 screened at Civil Hospital Makli, Sujawal taluka hospital and Shaikh Zaid Medical Centre, Mirpur Sakro, said EDO of health Dr Arifa Tahirani on Thursday.

Dr Tahirani said that 70,000 schoolgoing children in the district had been vaccinated the second dose of drug against hepatitis B in October 2008 and third and final dose would be administered next month.

She said that 1,500 health staff, 526 women health workers, 33 prisoners in jails of Thatta and Sujawal, 500 in Mirpur Sakro and 1,200 police constables had been vaccinated and 25,000 doses of hepatitis-B vaccine had been supplied by the program manager for the prevention and control of hepatitis.

The EDO said that 164 hepatitis C patients had been treated and 146 patients were under treatment under the Chief Minister's Program.

About four new cases of polio reported by media in the district, she said that the district surveillance coordinator along with his team visited the Rawal Jakhro village in union council Kalri on March 25 and examined Rustam, Mashooq, Sughran, and Zaheer Ahmed.

The team found that all children were not acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) with a history of weakness from 11 months to 6.5 years old, he said.

The diagnosis of Rustam, Mashooq and Sughran was post meningitis/post-encephalitis sequalae and Zaheer was found to have right sided hemiplegila, she said.

Dr Arifa said that tuberliagation of 32 female patients had been carried out at the Rural Health Centre Daro and advised hepatitis patients to avail themselves of free screening and treatment at sentinel centre in Civil Hospital Makli.