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In a joint statement Thursday, the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Health Organization (WHO) said the risk of childhood polio vaccine was "minimal" in India because of a high routine immunization coverage in the country.
The two global vaccines provided for universal immunization program (UIP) are safe and secure.
"Certified polio-free in March 2014," The last polio case due to wild poliovirus in the country was detected on 13 January 2011, "the statement said.
It has been reported that polio virus has been phased out globally, and in India, in April 2016, as part of the polio endgame strategy.
Like in other countries, bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) has replaced the trivalent OPV (tOPV) in all polio campaigns and routine immunization in India.
As advised by the India Expert Advisory Group, the country continues to conduct mass vaccination campaigns against polio, using bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV), to maintain high immunity.
Referring to the recent incident in which type 2 polio vaccine virus was found in some cases and stool samples, the organizations said that the detection of the virus demonstrates a robust polio surveillance system jointly managed by the health ministry, the WHO and partners.
A team of Indian Council of Medical Research, Drug Controller General of India and Ministry of Health investigated the matter.
"A few vials of BOPV, supplied by one manufacturer in India, have been found to contain traces of type 2 polio vaccinia virus. .
"Despite the risk of vaccine derived polio being minimal, these vaccines demonstrate the commitment of the government to the health of children," the statement stated.
"In view of high routine immunization coverage is achieved in India under the Universal Immunization Program (UIP), the risk of children getting poliovirus is minimal," the statement added.
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