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India remains¹ one of the few countries where polio has not been eradicated². Most of the world's new cases are reported in the subcontinent. While the total number of cases dropped in India last year,that one variant³ of the virus is actually on the increase there.

印度仍然是世界上为数不多的几个没有根除小儿麻痹症的国家之一。全球新的小儿麻痹症病例大多发生在南亚次大陆。虽然印度去年的病例总数有所下降，但是那里的一种病毒感染病例实际上却在抬头。

Although the total number of polio cases fell in India in 2007, those caused by the slower-moving P3 virus are on the rise. P3 is one of three strains of the virus that cause the crippling disease.

印度2007年小儿麻痹症的病例总数虽然有所下降，但是感染上丙型小儿麻痹症病毒的病例却出现增多。

Most of the cases are in two states. There were nearly 300 cases traced to the P3 virus in Uttar Pradesh and about 140 in neighboring Bihar last year. That compares to fewer than 30 P3 cases in the two states in 2006.

去年大多数病例发生在两个邦，有大约300例丙型小儿麻痹症病例发生在北方邦，还有大约140个病例发生在邻近的比哈尔邦。在2006年，这两个邦的丙型小儿麻痹症的病例还不到30个。

Dr. Devendra Khander is the coordinator⁴ of the World Health Organization's polio project in Bihar. He explains why it has been difficult to wipe out the highly infectious disease in those two states.

坎德尔医生是世界卫生组织驻比哈尔邦的小儿麻痹症项目协调员，他解释了为什么在印度这两个邦消灭传染力很强的小儿麻痹症很困难。

"The combination of factors, that is, highest population density⁵ in India, along with the weak sanitation⁶ - in Bihar the flooding is an additional component⁷ - a huge group of susceptible⁸ children, along with low routine immunization," explained Khander.

坎德尔说：“有一系列综合因素，那就是，印度人口的高度密集、卫生设施落后。在比哈尔邦，洪水又是另外一个因素。大群容易受到感染的儿童缺乏经常的免疫措施。”

Immunization programs in India have focused on the P1 virus, which spreads quickly. The less dangerous P2 strain has been completely eradicated worldwide.

印度的免疫项目集中在对付甲型小儿麻痹症，那是一种传染性极强的疾病。没有甲型那么危险的乙型小儿麻痹症已经在全球范围被消灭。

Dr. Khander says, with the decline in P1 cases, the immunization priority will shift to the P3 virus in 2008.

坎德尔医生说，随着甲型小儿麻痹症病例的减少，2008年将要把工作重点移到防止丙型小儿麻痹症病毒的传播上。

"With this, we should be in a position to finish off the indigenous⁹ transmission in Bihar also," said Khander.

他说：“这样做，我们就会阻止这种疾病在比哈尔邦传播。”

But even India's urban environments have not seen an eradication¹⁰ of polio. Two children were diagnosed with the disease last year in New Delhi, although the parents of both say their children had taken oral doses of the vaccine¹¹. These are the first cases of P3 viral polio in five years in the Indian capital.

但是甚至印度城市的环境中都还没有消灭小儿麻痹症。去年，在新德里两名儿童被诊断患了这种病，尽管这两个孩子的家长都说孩子服用过口服疫苗。这是5年来印度首都第一次发现丙型小儿麻痹症病毒。

Health officials here say they plan to request the national government to implement¹² a special "pulse" immunization campaign in the capital. This would involve a mass, simultaneous immunization targeting children up to five years old.

印度的卫生官员表示，他们计划请求政府在首都执行一种特别的“脉搏防疫运动”，对5岁以下所有儿童同时进行大规模的防疫。

Polio spreads mainly among young children through contaminated food or water. It is considered to have been wiped out in most of the world, except in Nigeria, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.

小儿麻痹症主要在幼小儿童中传播，传播途径是食物和饮水。据信，这种病已经在世界大部分地区被消灭，只有尼日利亚、阿富汗、印度和巴基斯坦除外。