Infant Polio Death Was Rare Case Of Low Immunity: Ministry

Bangalore: The death of an 11-month-old child due to vaccine-derived polio in Beed district of Maharashtra could have occurred because of low immunity, the union health ministry said.

Vaccine-derived polio virus (VDPV) is extremely rare, and detected in children with immunodeficiency or in populations with low levels of immunization, the health ministry said in a statement.

Shivprakash Mundada, the doctor who treated the child, said: "The death was caused not by polio, but post-viral encephalitis complications."

The polio virus causes complications like swelling in the brain.

"The child was afflicted by a rare strain called the VDPV2," Mundada told IANS from Beed, adding that the infant caught the virus because of his low immunity levels.

The victim, Rohit R. Shelke, was detected as "polio positive" around two weeks ago. He died late Saturday at the Maharashtra Institute of Medical Science and Research (MIMSR) in Latur.

The infant had been suffering from brain lesions. The main cause of his illness or death has been reported as infection in the brain.