DHAKA, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Bangladesh will vaccinate 22 million children under five on Saturday in an attempt to uphold its polio-free status, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said.

Helped by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO), Bangladesh launched a drive to immunise all under-5 children across the country when after a lapse of five years a case of polio was detected in March 2006.

Since then Bangladesh is again a polio-free country, but the threat of a recurrence of the virus still exists, said Duangvadee Sunghobol, WHO representative to Bangladesh.

Field workers from the health and family welfare ministry along with 600,000 volunteers will administer oral polio vaccines to 22 million children, and vitamin A capsule to nearly 21 million children at 140,000 sites, UNICEF said.

A four-day door-to-door check will follow in order to make sure that no child is left out.

Polio is an acute viral infectious disease which can lead to paralysis.

"This ... round is sure to go much beyond containing the recurrence of polio alone," said Carel de Rooy, UNICEF Bangladesh representative.

By "combining vitamin A supplementation, it will be able to reduce a host of other illnesses that pose threats to the lives of children in Bangladesh," a UNICEF statement quoted her as saying.

The second round of this phase will be held on Jan. 3, 2009. (Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Jerry Norton)

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