NEW DELHI: Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday refuted media reports that around 200 samples have tested positive to polio-like symptoms in Uttar Pradesh and asserted that the test has found all these cases negative.
Maintaining that the the country remains polio free for the fourth consecutive year, the ministry statement said, “Nearly 18,000 AFP (acute flaccid paralysis) cases have been investigated between January and June 2015 as part of the ongoing surveillance activities in India.
“The 208 cases reported from Bareilly in a section of the media are part of these. Reports of all AFP cases received from the laboratories in 2015 are negative for poliovirus.”
The ministry said surveillance for polio has been set up as per WHO guidelines. According to which, all cases of paralysis with sudden onset in children up to 15 years (which is called AFP) are reported and investigated by the polio surveillance network and their stool samples tested for poliovirus in WHO accredited laboratories.
“Surveillance for polio in India is considered among the best polio surveillance systems anywhere in the world and surpasses the globally recommended standards,” it said.