Abstract

Background: Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance is a key strategy for monitoring the progress of polio eradication and is a sensitive instrument for detecting potential poliomyelitis cases and poliovirus infection. Differential diagnosis of Acute Flaccid Paralysis includes Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), transverse myelitis, traumatic paresis etc. Although these cases are prevailing in the community, the reporting is still inadequate, an understanding of the natural history of AFP is necessary to boost surveillance.
Objective: The objective of this study is to ascertain the clinic epidemiological profile of AFP cases admitted in a tertiary care hospital.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2014 to July 2016 among reported AFP cases to Ashoknagar Urban Health Centre from Pediatric department of KLE Hospital. A total of 41 cases were investigated. A predesigned questionnaire was used to collect data regarding sociodemographic characters, immunization history, travel history, clinical history etc. A detailed clinical examination was done for each case. Hospital records were referred for provisional diagnosis.
Results: A total of 41 AFP cases were investigated. Male to female ratio was 1.92:1. The majority of them i.e., 41.4% belonged to age group between 5 to 9 years. Most of the cases i.e., 58.5% were seen during monsoon season. Guillain- Barre (GB) Syndrome constituted around 80% of the cases with most of them presenting as ascending paralysis. Conclusion: The most common cause of AFPs was Guillain-Barre syndrome. There was an increase in the number of cases during Monsoon season. Public-private partnerships help in early reporting and rapid investigation of cases.