Monovalent OPV to be administered to attain zero polio case

Pakistan with the support of Unicef, WHO and Gavi will soon be administering monovalent vaccines to eliminate the strain One of the polio virus identified in the Pakistani environs.
David Heymann, WHO Global Director for Polio Eradicative Initiative, said here on Tuesday while addressing the inter-provincial meeting on "Inter-provincial Co-ordination for Polio Eradication and Strengthening of Routine Immunisation."
As all 15 confirmed cases of polio registered till August 2005 were established to be caused by the persistence of a particular strain for polio virus (P-1), hence a component of the oral polio vaccine drops that target the Type One strain will be administered in the upcoming polio rounds, he said.
"Through the use of OPV One Vaccine, the transmission of Polio One Wild Virus can be interrupted and would be extremely essential in attaining zero polio prevalence in Pakistan", said David Heymann.
This monovalent vaccine contains just the single strain to more effectively target the most persistent strain of polio in Pakistan, which is the cause of all polio cases this year to date, Dr Heymann representing all partners helping Pakistan to attain the goal of polio eradication, he further elaborated
On the occasion, Dr Heymann reminded that Pakistan reported 103 polio cases in 2003 and 53 in 2004 reflecting a 50 percent reduction as well as further decline in 2005 with 15 cases as compared with 28 by end of July 2004.
According to him where previously the oral polio drops contained all three strains attempts are now to particularly target the most persistent strain "One" of the polio virus, identified in Pakistan.
It was mentioned that the similar strategy has been adopted in India and Egypt and have resulted positively as it was a natural transition to the use of a more targeted vaccine, as the polio III virus has not bee seen since December and Polio II is considered to be globally eradicated.
Appreciating Pakistan for largely containing the disease incidence, Dr David Heymann said reaching the last legs makes appropriate to opt for monovalent vaccines.
He also commented that although there is much international support for the polio eradication initiative in Pakistan, the work being done by the EDOs, DCOs and other government officials could not be replicated by any one else.