Calling it a “case of wild polio P3 virus”, a senior Union Health Ministry official says the child may have caught the virus in Uttar Pradesh, where the family stayed till a year ago. Arbaz’s mother Rehana Khan, though, claims they did not miss “even a single polio drop”; she, in fact, doubts efficacy of the drops.

Newsline visited the family at Sri Ram colony in Shahdara’s Karawal Nagar on Monday and found the three-year-old could barely crawl. This, despite neighbours recalling the boy as one who led the group of local kids till just two months ago. Babli, a neighbour, echoed the whole neighbourhood when she said, “It breaks my heart seeing him sit the whole day at the doorstep, just watching other children play.”

Arbaz, however, has little clue about the solemnity of what has just transpired. So, when playmates come asking, his stock reply is, “Merey paer mein chot lagi hai isliye mein chal nahi sakta; jab theek ho jaoonga tab kheloonga (I have hurt my leg and cannot walk; I’ll start playing once I am alright).” He pointed to his bandaged legs, as if to drive home the point.

His father Mohammad Shakeel said the family felt something was wrong when the boy contacted fever in August-end. “He could barely get up the next morning, so we took him to a local clinic. Doctors there referred a hospital — we went to Lok Nayak and GB Pant hospitals — and were told that Arbaz has polio.”

Shakeel, a painter whose usual daily take-home is Rs 100-150, now works overtime to see his son walk. Again.

Rehana said the family can ill-afford the medical costs, “but we cannot see him like this”. For now, “we do whatever people tell us. We have massaged his legs with a special oil and bandaged them to maintain body temperature — we are told this might help his legs gain some power.”

Health ministry officials, meanwhile, said P3 virus has been traced in Delhi after five years. “Since P1 virus is more serious and spreads faster, we were concentrating on that,” a senior Health official says. “But now that we have P3 virus, we will use monovalent oral polio vaccine-3 (MOPV3) — for the first time in Delhi or UP.”