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A new report by two Delhi pediatricians suggests that theĀ  sharp rise in childhood paralysis in India is due to the increased usage of theĀ  oral polio vaccine, a drug that was banned in the U.S. over a decade ago.

Dr. Neetu Vashisht and Dr. Jacob Puliyel of St. StephensĀ  Hospital created the report after analyzing data from India’s 10-year-oldĀ  National Polio Surveillance Project, which is availableĀ  online. Their findings, which were published in the Indian Journal ofĀ  medical Ethics, revealed that rates of non-polio acute flaccid paralysis(NPAFP)Ā  have increased 1200% since the oral polio vaccine was introduced to India aĀ  decade ago.

The oral polio vaccine contains a liveĀ  polio virus and has been linked to polio-like paralysis. Polio vaccines used inĀ  other countries do not include the live virus, but polio vaccines used in IndiaĀ  do.

The doctors provided other troublingĀ  details in their report:

ā€œIn 2011, there were an extra 47500 new cases of NPAFP [in India].Ā  Clinically indistinguishable from polio paralysis but twice as deadly, theĀ  incidence of NPAFP was directly proportional to doses of oral polioĀ  received.ā€

Ajay Khera, theĀ  Deputy CommissionerĀ  for Child Health and Immunisation for the Ministry of Family and Health WelfareĀ  (MHFW), downplayed the significance of the findings in an interview with TehelkaĀ  News. In reference to the rise in paralysis cases, he said, ā€œIt’s not anĀ  alert sign but indicative of the quality of the surveillance.ā€

However, increases in surveillanceĀ  quality over time do not explain the strong location-based correlationĀ  discovered by Vashist and Puliyel. According to the report:

ā€œIn the states of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Bihar, which have pulseĀ  polio rounds nearly every month, the non-polio AFP rate is 25- and 35-foldĀ  higher than the international norms.Ā  The relationship of the non-polio AFP rateĀ  is curvilinear with a more steep increase beyond six doses of OPV in one year.ā€

Vashist and Puliyel were also concernedĀ  by the lack of attention that the polio survey administrators gave to theĀ  paralysis results:

“Though this data was collected within the polio surveillanceĀ  system, it was not investigated… It is sad that, even after meticulousĀ  surveillance, this large excess in the incidence of paralysis was notĀ  investigated as a possible signal, nor was any effort made to try and study theĀ  mechanism for this spurt in non-polio AFP.ā€

In addition, otherĀ  medical professionals are skepticalabout the claim that the paralysis casesĀ  are not linked to polio. ā€œDid they misclassify NPAFP when they denied that theĀ  increase in vaccine doses is related to the increase in NPAFP cases?ā€asked Dr SKĀ  Mittal, former professor and Head of Pediatrics at India’s Maulana Azad MedicalĀ  College.

Drug companies and regulators have longĀ  known about the harmful effects of the oral polio vaccine that includes the liveĀ  virus. In 1976,Ā  vaccine inventor Jonas Salk admitted to the United StatesĀ  Congress that the live polio vaccine was the ā€œprincipal if not sole causeā€ ofĀ  all reported polio cases in the U.S. since 1961, accordingĀ  to Salem News.

The website for the U.S. Centers forĀ  Disease Control (CDC) also describes the paralyzingĀ  side effectsof the oral polio vaccine:

“From 1980 through 1999, there were 162 confirmed cases of paralyticĀ  polio reported. Of the 162 cases, eight cases were acquired outside the UnitedĀ  States and imported… The remaining 154 cases were vaccine-associated paralyticĀ  polio (VAPP) caused by live oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV).ā€

The debilitating – and sometimes deadly – side effects of the oral polio vaccine led the U.S. to stop using it in 2000,Ā  the NewĀ  York Times reported. However, many governments around the world stillĀ  administer the dangerous vaccine to their citizens. Despite the grave concernsĀ  that have been raised, the vaccine manufacturers and the health agencies theyĀ  have partnered with around the world are shifting the oralĀ  polio vaccination effort into high gear – and there are no signs ofĀ  stopping

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/323371#ixzz20lhpOgac

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