With 97 new polio cases, Indian state to have more vaccination sessions

From The Times of India:

LUCKNOW, India -- A spurt in polio cases across four districts of Uttar Pradesh has sent alarm bells ringing. Panic stricken officials at the state health
department ordered holding of mop up rounds (to cover the areas more extensively) on July 26.

Data gathered from the national polio surveillance project website indicated that 53 cases of polio were reported from across the country in July last year. This year, however, the number for UP alone is a few heads short of 100 with another 10 days for the month to go. As many as 54 of the total 97 being reported from a cluster of four districts, there is enough reason for the officials to worry.

The affected districts are Jyotiba Phule Nagar, Rampur, Bareilly and Moradabad having 16, 15, 7 and 16 cases, respectively. What's more alarming is that all of these cases have come to light after July 11 -- when the last NPSP report on country's polio data was released. The said report says that the last polio case reported in Uttar Pradesh came to light on June 27, 2009. As of now, the polio count of UP stands at 183 that includes 11 type one case and 173 type three cases.

Officials at NPSP, however, say that there isn't anything much to worry about as it's July, which is the peak time of the polio virus infection. Another sign of respite comes from the fact that none of the new cases reported in July are of the virulent P1 type.