KARACHI, March 26: The officials of the expanded programme on immunisation (EPI-Sindh) have urged parents and children's guardians to allow EPI vaccinators to administer polio vaccines to the children during the ongoing immunisation campaign against polio.

Sindh EPI director Dr Mazhar Khamisani, talking to APP on Saturday, said that it was extremely essential in a situation where poor sanitation remained a risk factor for children that vaccines were given to them repeatedly to boost their immunity against the polio virus.

“This holds extremely true of the polio virus that continues to cripple our children,” he said.

All children from newborns to five years of age in the country were being administered oral polio vaccines (OPV) for absolutely free for the past 20 years, usually on their doorstep or very close to their homes, he said.

“It is now up to parents and children's caretakers to make sure that every child gets vaccinated,” he said.

The director and other EPI officials reiterated that the people must allow teams of vaccinators to give polio vaccines to their children.

D Khamisani said: “An affected child, who is a carrier of the polio virus, does pass the virus through their excreta and it is often reported that faulty sewage pipe lines often get mixed with water supply lines and it can enhance children's vulnerability in the vicinity to the disease.

“The oral anti-polio vaccine booster does provide additional protection to children,” he added.

Answering a question about the risk of a polio virus carrier's mobility, EPI officials said that teams of vaccinators were regularly stationed at all relevant exit and entry points of the city — railway stations, inter-provincial bus terminus and airports.

They agreed that there was a need for strengthening the routine immunisation programme across the country.—APP