Hindu Priests Administer Polio Drops as Blessings

[struggle4progress]

Reuters

Patna, Apr 19: Hindu priests are blessing children with polio drops instead of traditional holy water, sweets or fruits to help eradicate the crippling disease in Bihar, an official said on Wednesday. ~snip~

"We are keen to wipe out polio and we thought involving temple priests would be a good idea as people trust and listen to them," said Gopal Krishna, a senior Bihar health official.

Tens of millions of people in Hindu-majority India visit temples and accept holy water, fruits or sweets from priests after prayers. ~snip~

"I was very surprised when the priest put polio drops into the mouths of several children, including my son, as god's blessings," said Sunita Devi, a resident of Patna, the state capital. "But we trust the priest as he can do us no harm."

http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=32536&n_tit=Hindu+Priests+Administer+Polio+Drops+as+Blessings+

[Ilsa]

1. Yeah, but the shots are the safer way to give the vaccine.

There is a very small percentage of children who react poorly to the live oral vaccine, which is why in the US, the injectable one is used.

[struggle4progress]

2. UNICEF prefers the oral vaccine where the virus is still wild

because hardly any training is required to deliver it. And apparently the oral attenuated live virus vaccine confers somewhat better immunity. Apparently about 4 people contract polio for every 10 million receiving the oral vaccine.

http://www.unicef.org/immunization/23245_polio.html
http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/CC/polio.html
http://www.healthtouch.com/bin/EContent_HT/cnoteShowLfts.asp?fname=00643&title=ORAL+POLIO+VACCINE+&cid=HTHLTH

[Ilsa]

5. Thanks for the info! Those details make a huge difference, don't they? nt

[Random_Australian]

3. My, that is great news. Come one, come all, we've got a world to fix and we'll

need a lot of people to do it!

[SidDithers]

4. Good for the Hindus! Why can't they all be so flexible?...

Too bad Catholics won't allow a gluten-free host.\

Sid