The spectre of polio has thankfully passed with the child who was suspected to have the disease ultimately testing negative.
Two samples of the child and samples of close contacts were sent to Kolkata but these all came back negative, the State Immunisation Officer, Dr Badira Mawlong, informed today.
Despite this piece of good news, authorities are still concerned by low levels of vaccination in some parts of Meghalaya. Overall the state is at 90 per cent as far as immunisation goes but some blocks are as low as 70 per cent.
Vaccine hesitancy often results in disease outbreaks and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases and the World Health Organisation (WHO) describes it as a global health risk.
There is a vaccine for measles and vaccinated children are protected from what can prove to be a deadly disease. However, hesitancy by parents in getting their children the jab is having an effect; between January and August this year there have been 214 cases of measles in 11 different outbreaks in the state.
At times parents refuse vaccination without providing a reason but some parents notice that their child develops a fever after a jab and are then convinced that the vaccine is harming them.
However, it is normal for certain (not all) vaccines to cause fever in the inoculated person soon afterwards. A good paediatrician would be able to inform parents beforehand which vaccine is likely to cause fever and which is not, thereby providing some level of confidence in the parents.
The Health Department has also tasked Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) with staying in villages where vaccination drives are taking place so that they can properly attend to any children that develop fever from vaccinations.
