Scientists say a new oral polio vaccine has been found more effective against the virus that can cripple children throughout their life.

The double-strain vaccine has been found as better than the triple and single vaccines currently in use globally. The vaccine also called bivalent oral vaccine used by the World Health Organisation for their immunization program is manufactured by several firms. The prominent among them is GlaxoSmithKline and Panacea Biotec.

Scientists of the WHO in a study published in the medical journal Lancet said the new vaccine offers higher immune response than triple vaccines.Polio viruses are still prevalent in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nigeria. "The main advantage of the bivalent is that it is so effective against type 1 and type 3 poliovirus at the same time," WHO scientist Roland Sutter was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Sutter's team had conducted the study among 830 babies in India who received the monovalent, bivalent or trivalent vaccines in 2008.There are far less polio cases this year, about 32 compared to 260 in 2009, scientists wrote in the Lancet journal.