Background: Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. Supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) with oral polio vaccine are the main strategy for eradicating polio. Monitoring of these activities helps in generating quality data which is used by supervisors and higher authorities for checking whether these activities are going as recommended and initiating corrective action if required.
Objectives: The objective of present study is to monitor polio SIAs in some selected areas of Jammu.
Material and Methods: The present study was cross-sectional in nature. External monitors were briefed about various activities to be carried out day wise as a part of monitoring. High-risk areas of Jammu like urban slums, nomadic populations, brick kilns, construction site areas, and migratory communities were selected. The monitoring activity was carried out for 4 consecutive days. Results were presented in a descriptive manner using numbers, percentages, and proportions.
Results: In total, 72 booths were covered by external monitors. Regarding monitoring of non-migratory (settled) population, a total of 160 houses were visited by us where 247 under-five vaccinated children and 9 unvaccinated children were found. A total of 123 high-risk migratory and mobile population sites were monitored. To assess the completeness of SIA, we visited slums, brick kilns, settled population in high-risk areas, and one busy market. There we checked 125 children less than two years of age and vaccination was around 97.6%.
Conclusion: Monitoring of polio SIAs revealed overall satisfactory results.
Key words: High-Risk Areas; Monitoring; Polio; Supplementary Immunization Activities
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