Seven-year-old from Faridabad dies of polio

A seven-year-old boy has died of polio in Faridabad. The Bhadkhal resident had developed fever followed by an acute problem in his legs and hands that caused his limbs to stop functioning properly, reports Prabhu Razdan.

A seven-year-old boy has died of polio in Faridabad.

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The Bhadkhal resident had developed fever followed by an acute problem in his legs and hands that caused his limbs to stop functioning properly.

Sources said he was rushed to Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital in New Delhi, where he died last month.

The World Health Organisation confirmed it was a polio death on Tuesday. The death is counted as a Faridabad death as he had got infected at home.

“We received a telephonic message from an official of the World Health Organisation on Tuesday informing us that polio was the main cause behind death of the boy," Dr M. M. Sharma, District Immunization Officer, Faridabad told HT over the phone. The report is yet to reach Faridabad officials.

Dr Sharma, who is also Deputy Chief Medical Officer in Faridabad, said the boy died of the P3 Virus. "All information about the boy and his family is being gathered, but we'll get details after the medical report reaches us," he said.

Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis, usually in the legs. Up to 10 per cent of those paralysed die.