Polio's return, a new global emergency

Paul8591 · May 6, 2014

Right now Pakistan, Cameron and Syria are the most risky countries in the world for Polio. The WHO has issued warning to these countries to impose travel restrictions to their citizens if they did not take essential measure. Polio is a contagious disease and it spreads through feces. People who are exposed to polio only 1 in 200 develop symptoms, but once someone develops the symptoms, there is no cure for this disease. The W.H.O is recommended travel restriction from three countries, Pakistan, Camceron and Syria. The danger is if this virus will be spread in Central African countries, it would be a deadly epidemic.
Polio is a deadly virus and if it spreads, it will cause lots of destruction. Still with all these advancements in science, we are unable to eradicate this virus from our planet. Politics, law & Order situations in different parts of the world is helping this virus to grow. This is a most pathetic situation, there are people who are doing politics on the polio vaccination. In spite of seeing that coming generations will be exposed to this virus will be paralyzed throughout their lives.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/health/world-health-organization-polio-health-emergency.html?_r=0

waltky · Aug 19, 2014

Mutated virus caused lethal outbreak of polio in Africa...

Study Reveals ***** in Polio Vaccines Armor
August 18, 2014: A mutated polio virus that slipped through vaccine defenses caused an unusually lethal outbreak in the Republic of Congo in 2010, according to a new study.

An intensive vaccination campaign was able to stop the virus. But the authors say their research shows new and dangerous strains may emerge as polio eradication nears, and high rates of vaccination are the best available protection.

Weaker vaccine

Polio usually paralyzes its victims. It is not typically fatal. But in the Republic of Congo outbreak, nearly half of the 445 people who got sick with the virus died. Health workers were especially concerned because about half of the patients remembered having been vaccinated. That made it even more bizarre, because if they had been vaccinated, they shouldnt be sick, said virologist Felix Drexler at the University of Bonn. When Drexler and colleagues in Europe and Africa studied the virus, they found it had some never-before-seen mutations in a critical part of its outer coat. Those mutations were in the place where antibodies that fight the virus would normally attach.

A boy suffering from polio crawls beside his braces in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

We thought, Wow, maybe that could affect the ability of the antibodies in human blood to neutralize the virus, Drexler said. It did. When they tested the virus in Germany against blood samples from people with better-than-average vaccination coverage, they found that 15 to 29 percent of them would not be protected from the mutant strain. The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Virus stopped

The Republic of Congo had been polio free before the outbreak. It took four nationwide immunization drives targeting every man, woman and child to stop the mutated virus. Drexler said the effort worked because just about everyone got vaccinated with the most potent form of the vaccine. The virus has not been seen since, though Drexler said its possible its still lurking out there somewhere. And, he added, there may be others that also can evade the vaccine's protection. Experts say polio eradication is in its final stages. There have been fewer than 150 cases anywhere in the world this year, and the virus is found regularly in just three countries.

Good enough?

But, Drexler noted, The question that the experts are asking is, 'Is the vaccine good enough to enable us to eradicate poliovirus?' Virologist Olen Kew with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is. He was not involved with this study. He noted that the vaccine has eliminated the virus everywhere it has been used. What happened in Congo was, it hadnt been used for quite a long period of time and a susceptible group opened up, he said. Civil unrest disrupted vaccination campaigns in the 1990s and early 2000s. And when the virus was introduced, it had devastating effects.

Kew said the reason the virus was so deadly was because the susceptible group was young adults, not the children who are usually affected. Its been known for a long time that older age groups, once they get infected, can have more severe disease than younger children, he said. Associate Director Walt Orenstein at the Emory Vaccine Center, who was also not involved in the study, said more potent vaccines would be helpful to protect against mutated viruses. However, he added, I think the most important message, to me, is, we need to push hard and push fast and terminate transmission as quickly as possible, in which case this becomes irrelevant.

http://www.voanews.com/content/study-reveals-*****-in-polio-vaccines-armor/2417658.html
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waltky · Nov 15, 2014

Polio Eradication Reaches Major Milestone...

Polio eradication programme reaches 'major milestone'
14 November 2014 ~ A "major milestone" in the battle to eliminate polio globally has been reached, the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) has said.

Its experts think a second of the three forms of poliovirus has been eliminated after mass vaccination campaigns. Wild poliovirus type 3 has not been detected for more than two years. Type 2 was eradicated in 1999. Experts said the world was "closer than ever" to defeating polio but the situation in Pakistan was worrying. Polio is highly infectious and causes paralysis in up to one in 200 people. Some children die when the muscles that help them breathe stop working. But there has been huge progress in eliminating the disease. Cases have fallen from 350,000 in 1988 to 416 in 2013. The last case of type 3 poliovirus was detected in Pakistan in November 2012, according to the CDC report.

Experts said the world was "closer than ever" to defeating polio but the situation in Pakistan was worrying

Endemic

"We may have eradicated a second of three; that's a major milestone," said Dr Stephen Cochi, a senior adviser at the CDC's Centre for Global Health. However, a formal process - involving the Polio Global Certification Commission - is required before type 3 can be officially declared eradicated. That will not take place for at least another year. Type 1 remains endemic in three countries - Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. Dr Cochi told the BBC: "It's the most prickly one. For reasons that are unclear, this is the most common cause of polio outbreaks and the most frequent cause of paralytic polio." There has been progress in Nigeria, where cases have fallen to six so far this year from 53 in 2013. "But our biggest problem is getting worse in Pakistan," said Dr Cochi. Cases have leap from 59 last year to 236 and counting in 2014.

Mass exodus

The Pakistani Taliban stopped polio vaccination programmes in some tribal areas of the country for about two years. Since the summer there has been a mass exodus of people from the region after military operations by Pakistan's army. Dr Cochi added: "The good news is now those children are accessible in refugee camps or other parts of the country so they are getting vaccinated. "But the bad news is the poliovirus has spread all over the country and there have been cases from Karachi and Punjab province." It means there is a serious risk of polio spreading to other countries. The virus travelled from Pakistan to Syria in 2013.

Vaccination campaigns have been hugely successful

Prof Walt Orenstein, from the vaccine centre at Emory University in the US, told the BBC: "Type 3 appears to be gone - I think it is overwhelmingly likely that we are there, but it's too soon to say we're definitely there. "So it's not a total victory, but it is very promising." But he warned: "Pakistan is a major concern, about 85% of wild type 1 poliovirus this year has been in Pakistan, but in Nigeria there is real hope we can get rid of type 1 even by the end of this year."

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-30056311
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Unexplained, polio-like illness has paralyzed 75 kids
November 14, 2014 ~ An unexplained, polio-like illness has now affected 75 children across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

An unexplained, polio-like illness has affected 75 children across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first cases were reported in August in Colorado, around the same time that children began going to the emergency room with breathing problems related to enterovirus D68, according to the CDC. The CDC reports 1,116 cases of the enterovirus in 47 states and Washington, D.C., in recent months, almost all in children. Twelve children with the virus have died.

The paralysis resembles polio in that the children have severe muscle weakness. All had a fever and respiratory symptoms about a week before developing the paralysis. Most of the children had problems with the spinal cord that could be seen on a magnetic resonance image, or MRI, according to the CDC.

Some of the children also had enterovirus D68 in their nasal mucus. That virus typically causes respiratory problems, so doctors don't know if it's to blame for the paralysis, according to the CDC. Enteroviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause "summer colds," or respiratory bugs in late summer or early fall. To reduce the risk of contracting enterovirus D68 as well as the flu or other infectious diseases the CDC recommends that people wash their hands frequently.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/14/enterovirus-deaths-paralysis/19040405/
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Diuretic · Nov 15, 2014

Humanity has been in a war against virii as long as we've been able to work out what they were. We will always be fighting that war and we will see victory and defeat over and over again in a never-ending cycle. They were here before us and they'll be here after we've disappeared but we can give them a bloody good going over while we're here.

waltky · Sep 26, 2015

Anti-polio efforts paying off in Nigeria despite Boko Haram interference...

Nigeria Reaches Milestone: No Polio Cases for a Year
September 25, 2015 - The World Health Organization announced Friday that Nigeria has been removed from the list of polio endemic countries, a key step in the eradication of the disease.

The organization said Nigeria had gone more than a year without a recorded case of naturally occurring poliovirus. Once Nigeria has gone three years without reporting a case of the virus, the country can be declared polio-free. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the public-private partnership that is leading the effort to eradicate polio, called the development a "historic achievement."

There are now only two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, in which active cases of the disease are found. In those nations, the transmission of the paralyzing virus has never been interrupted. The president of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Chris Elias, hailed the achievement in Nigeria as a milestone but said the accomplishment "is also fragile." Experts warn that continued success in the battle against polio depends on the continuation of vaccination campaigns and the close monitoring of suspected cases.

A health official administers a polio vaccine to a child in Kawo Kano, Nigeria

Past difficulties

"This is a clear example of success under very difficult circumstances," said Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "It shows we can eradicate polio if proven strategies are fully implemented." Nigeria has a long history of challenges surrounding its polio vaccination campaigns. In 2003, several northern states boycotted the polio vaccine over fears it could cause sterilization, leading to a resurgence of the virus in Nigeria and its spread to neighboring countries that had been declared polio-free. In addition, nine vaccinators were killed in the northern state of Kano in 2013, and vaccinators have had difficulty reaching children in the northeastern state of Borno, which is at the heart of the Islamic insurgency by Boko Haram militants.

Despite the challenges, many government and community leaders in Nigeria have increased their support for the vaccination campaign, leading more families to seek out the vaccine for their children. Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a highly infectious disease transmitted person to person, often through fecal matter and contaminated water. It mainly affects children, causing permanent paralysis and even death. Polio is easily prevented through vaccination, but there is no cure.

http://www.voanews.com/content/nigeria-reaches-polio-milestone/2980158.html
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waltky · Sep 26, 2015

Nigeria glad to be off polio endemic list...

Nigeria revels in removal from list of polio-endemic nations
26 Sept.`15 Nigeria on Saturday celebrated the announcement by the U.N. health agency that polio is no longer endemic in the West African country.

The news of Nigeria's progress, made by the World Health Organization on late Friday, leaves only Pakistan and its war-battered neighbor Afghanistan as countries where the disease is prevalent. Polio which can cause life-long paralysis can be prevented with a simple vaccination. "It's a great moment for Nigeria," Dr. Tunji Funsho, chairman of Rotary International's anti-polio campaign in Nigeria, told The Associated Press. "We should celebrate but with a caveat that we should not let our guard down." He attributed the success to teamwork between government and non-governmental health organizations.

A health official administers a polio vaccine to a child in Kawo Kano, Nigeria Polio is no longer endemic in Nigeria, the World Health Organization said late Friday, Sept. 25, 2015 leaving only Pakistan and its war-battered neighbor Afghanistan in the list of countries where the disease is prevalent.

Nigeria's main goal now is maintain vigilance to make sure that Nigeria has no new polio cases in the next two years so that the WHO can declare Nigeria a polio-free country, Dr. Funsho said. "Until that happens we are not out of the woods yet," he said. Once stigmatized as the world's polio epicenter, Nigeria in late July celebrated its first year with no reported case of the crippling disease, having overcome obstacles ranging from Islamic extremists who assassinated vaccinators to rumors the vaccine was a plot to sterilize Muslims.

Just 20 years ago this West African nation was recording 1,000 polio cases a year the highest in the world. The last recorded case of a child paralyzed by the wild polio virus endemic in Nigeria's impoverished and mainly Muslim north was on July 24, 2014. WHO said Nigeria and Africa as a whole are now closer to being certified polio-free. The agency warned polio remains endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan and that as long as the disease exists anywhere "it's a threat to children everywhere."

http://news.yahoo.com/un-strikes-nigeria-list-polio-endemic-countries-102438915.html
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waltky · Sep 28, 2015

Resistance to Polio Vaccination in Cameroon...

Cameroon Finds Resistance to Polio Vaccination Campaign
September 27, 2015 | Cameroon is ending a polio vaccination campaign against a backdrop of growing resistance, even though officials say 7 percent of Cameroon's children are still at risk of contracting the crippling disease.

Forty-three-year-old Clarisse Tomta has refused to allow vaccination agents to inoculate two of her children both under 5 years of age. She described the anti-polio campaign as unnecessary.

Tomta said it was becoming suspicious when Cameroon organized so many vaccination campaigns against polio knowing fully well that many mothers were educated enough and master their vaccination calendars. She said many more Cameroonians died of poverty and should be given more consideration.

Dr. Noulna Desire of Cameroon's expanded vaccination program said despite the resistance, which he said was a result of misinformation, fear and suspicion, they would not stop until they vaccinated the 5 million children age 5 and younger they were targeting.

WHO recommendation
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waltky · Nov 10, 2015

Pakistani polio prevention program succeeding despite Taliban efforts...

Pakistan may be polio free by next year: Unicef
Nov 9, 2015: Pakistan may be declared a 'non-endemic country for polio virus' by next year, a Unicef health official said on Monday citing over 85 per cent reduction in recorded polio cases in 2015, especially in the country's restive tribal areas.

Pakistan, which along with Afghanistan remains the only place where the crippling disease is still rife, registered only 36 polio cases so far this year, as compared to 306 cases recorded last year. Year 2014 is considered by health experts as the darkest year for Pakistan polio eradication programme. "Efforts to eradicate the disease have been severely hindered in recent years by militants who attacked immunisation teams and polio workers were not allowed in certain areas for administering drops," said Dr Muhammad Johar, Unicef Team Leader for Polio eradication in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

"The progress and achievement in polio eradication efforts has raised the confidence of health teams and Pakistan has set the target of complete obstruction of polio transmission in Pakistan by May 2016," Johar said, adding, "In May 2016, Pakistan may be declared as Non-Endemic country for polio virus." "Around 292,000 children from Khyber Agency, North Waziristan and South Waziristan Agencies were missed from immunisation in 2014 due to inaccessibility of health teams in these area," said Aqeel Ahmad, Media Liaison Officer, Polio Emergency Operation Center (EOC), FATA.

While in 2015, only 16,000 children have been missed in the country which is highly appreciable, Aqeel added. This achievement became possible with the support of the military, especially due to improvement in security after launching of military operation Zarb-e-Azb, said Aqeel. Johar also gave credit for reduction in polio cases to better security arrangements after launching of military operations in North Waziristan Agency and other parts of FATA including Khyber Agency. The main reason behind the rise in number of polio cases between 2005 to 2014 was inaccessibility of health teams in tribal areas where hundreds of thousands of children were missed from immunisation resulting in contamination of disease, Johar said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-by-next-year-Unicef/articleshow/49726969.cms
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Alucard · Nov 10, 2015

I thought Polio was wiped out for good but I was mistaken.

waltky · Jan 7, 2016

If it's safer, then why don't they go ahead and use it now?...

Safer Polio Vaccines on Way for Use After Eradication
January 06, 2016 - The goal of eradicating polio worldwide is within sight. But public health officials must make sure that vaccines administered after that point cannot cause a recurrence of the disease. Researchers in Britain have come up with a safe strain that would prevent polio reinfection.

Polio vaccines are stockpiled for use into the foreseeable future to prevent another epidemic of paralytic polio, once the disease is officially eradicated. Experts say there is always a chance the live, weakened virus used to make the warehoused drugs could escape factories, risking new cases of polio. There have also been instances in which mutated viral strains survive in the gut of immune-compromised people after they have been vaccinated.

An Afghan health worker administers polio vaccine to a child during a campaign at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province

At the urging of the World Health Organization, British researchers have developed safe seed strains from which to make polio vaccine. They modified viral RNA to make the resulting strains genetically stable. The strains that are now used have in rare cases mutated into dangerous forms. Vaccines made from the new seed strains would not pose a health hazard at manufacturing facilities, nor be dangerous if they entered into the environment, according to British National Institute for Biological Standards and Control Virology Division head Philip Minor. He helped develop the new strains for polio vaccine, which researchers describe in the journal PLOS Pathogens.

'Safer' vaccine

In the very end-game period, more inactivated polio vaccine will be used because that is what you need to do to make sure... you have not missed anything, if you like. ... So, if you do that, and you use a very much safer strain, I think you are a bit more secure than if you go with what we have at the moment, Minor said. Vaccine is now made from live, weakened virus. Minor said the new vaccines would be as effective, but safer than current vaccine.

"And after polio is declared eradicated, I think inactivated polio vaccine will continue to be used for some time because of the possibility that you are wrong, that you have made a misstep, you have got chronically excreting, immuno-deficient people out there somewhere. I think there will be a need to carry on vaccination against polio until you are really sure what has happened, I think, Minor said. An expert WHO panel will make the final determination which new strains of inactivated polio virus are safe to put into new vaccines in the post-polio era.

http://www.voanews.com/content/polio-safe-vaccine/3133728.html
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waltky · Mar 9, 2016

Polio vaccination drive in Indonesia...

23.7 Million Indonesian Children to Get Polio Immunization
March 08, 2016 - Vaccine push aims to keep world on track toward being polio-free by 2020; awareness events kicked off Tuesday throughout country

After being declared polio-free by World Health Organization officials in 2014, Indonesia is observing National Polio Immunization Week by vowing to inoculate millions of children.

At a news conference in Jakarta, Indonesian Health Minister Nila Moeloek announced plans to vaccinate 23.7 million babies — from birth to 59 months of age — to keep the world on track toward being polio-free by 2020. "In 2014, Indonesia, along with other ASEAN countries, was awarded polio-free certificates," he said, vowing that the vaccine would comprise only Indonesia-made ingredients. "But because Afghanistan and Pakistan are still categorized as polio-endemic countries, there is a need for worldwide commitment, including from Indonesia, to move toward a polio-free world."

An Indonesian boy is given polio vaccine in Jakarta, Indonesia

While the polio immunization awareness events kicked off Tuesday throughout Indonesia, Puan Maharani, Coordinating Minister of Cultural and Human Development, said two provinces will receive vaccines a week later than the rest. "Two provinces are postponing the National Polio Immunization Week, including Bali, because it coincides with Nyepi, a religious holiday," she said. "The provinces will launch their own [events] from March 13 to 22."

The launch of National Polio Immunization Week events in Solo, Central Java, was attended by First Lady Iriana Jokowi. According to The Jakarta Post, Indonesia's Ulema Council issued an edict Jan. 23 reiterating its position that immunization is allowed in Islam to improve immunity and prevent sickness, so long as ingredients for the vaccine are derived of halal sources. Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population.

http://www.voanews.com/content/millions-children-in-indonesia-to-get-polio-immunization/3226842.html
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waltky · May 18, 2016

Pakistan 'could beat polio in months'...

Pakistan could beat polio in months, says WHO
Mon, 16 May 2016 - Polio could be eradicated in Pakistan within months, the World Health Organisation says, as a mass vaccination drive is launched in the north-west.

Polio could be eradicated in Pakistan within months, health officials say, as a mass vaccination drive is launched. A World Health Organisation spokesman told the BBC only a handful of cases have been reported this year in Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan. The two countries are the last places where polio remains endemic. It is hoped millions of children will be vaccinated over three days. Police escorts will guard against Islamist militants who oppose immunisations. "The challenges we have are both logistics and security," the WHO's representative for Pakistan, Dr Michel Thieren, told the BBC.

He said about 70,000 medical staff aimed to immunise almost 10 million children in the drive, which is taking place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and semi-autonomous tribal areas in the north-west, as well as in south-west Balochistan province. "They have with them 12 million doses for the coming three days," he said. "We are very close. A handful of cases [were] noticed this year - about 11 in Pakistan and I think about five in Afghanistan. "This is the lowest toll of cases in history. We expect to be within months of polio elimination in Pakistan."

A girl receives polio vaccine drops at a government dispensary in a Karachi slum

The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says the WHO's expression of optimism comes after the Pakistani authorities launched repeated anti-polio drives in high-risk areas. Health teams gained access to formerly hostile regions in the north-west after the Pakistani military launched a 2014 offensive against the Taliban in North Waziristan. Attacks on health workers have dropped since then, although they still remain a threat. Islamist militants oppose vaccination, saying it is a Western conspiracy to sterilise Pakistani children. In April seven policemen, three guarding polio workers, were killed in Karachi. A January bomb attack on a vaccination centre in Quetta killed 15 people. Pakistan recorded more than 300 polio cases in 2014, its highest number since 1999. The number of cases fell to 52 last year.

Polio around the world

What is polio?

Polio (poliomyelitis) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus which invades the nervous system. It mainly affects children aged under five. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and limb pain. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis, and between 5-10% of those who suffer paralysis die because their breathing muscles are immobilised. Cases have fallen dramatically since polio eradication programmes were introduced; from 350,000 globally in 1988 to around 70 in 2015. Polio remains endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but Nigeria was removed from the list in October after a year with no new cases.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36300034
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waltky · Jun 16, 2016

India was just officially declared polio-free in 2014.

India: Traces of Polio Found in Water Sample
June 15, 2016 - Traces of virus have been found in Hyderabad, two years after country was declared free of polio

Active strain of the polio virus was found in sewage samples in southern India collected last month, officials announced Wednesday. Around 300,000 children ages three to six in Hyderabad, a city of nearly 7 million, will be vaccinated in the coming week. India's last case of polio was in 2011, and the country was officially declared polio-free in 2014.

A man bathes a child with a water pump beside a polio awareness campaign poster on the wall of a small shop in the village of Kosi, some 180 kilometers (113 miles) from Patna, India.

National health officials are calling on residents of Hyderabad to remain calm, maintaining that India is still polio free. "This is not the first time that a strain has been found but it is a vaccine-derived polio strain that is found com,monly in children with low levels of immunity," CK Mishra, a Health Ministry secretary told reporters. "They excrete it, which is why it is found in the sewage samples."

Indian Lambadi tribal villagers fill drinking water from a leaking pipe on a roadside at Chandampet Mandal in Nalgonda east of Hyderabad on April 25, 2016, in the southern Indian state of Telangana.

State health officials also told residents not to panic, saying that tests to find traces of the polio virus in the environment have been carried out regularly since the country was declared polio free five years ago. India worked with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and several volunteer organizations to fight a decades-long battle eradicating the crippling disease.

http://www.voanews.com/content/india-trances-of-polio-found-in-water-sample/3376705.html
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Indian city on alert as polio strain found in sewage water
June 15, 2016 — A city of nearly 7 million people in southern India has declared a "high alert" for polio after an active strain of the virus was found in samples of sewage water, an official said Wednesday.

About 350,000 children aged 6 weeks to 3 years old will be vaccinated next week in Hyderabad and the neighboring Ranga Reddy district in the state of Telangana. The Health Ministry said the discovery did not reflect a resurgence of polio in India, which was declared free of polio in 2014. "India continues to be polio free as the country has eradicated wild polio virus," the ministry said in a statement, noting the last case was recorded in January 2011. "It has been more than five years that no wild polio has been detected."

Polio affected Indian man Mastan (60) moves on a wheel chair with the help of another man through a crowded street in Hyderabad, India

The poliovirus detected last month in Hyderabad was a strain that had mutated from the vaccine itself, the ministry said. Its detection "only indicates the robustness of the surveillance system," the ministry said. Nevertheless, Telangana declared a high alert in 24 sectors of Hyderabad identified as "most-sensitive areas," the state's top health official Rajeshwar Tiwari told reporters. "There is no need to panic," he said. The virus detected last month was found by one of the random tests done regularly throughout India since the disease was eradicated.

A health worker administers a polio drop to an infant in Kolkata, India

India's federal and state governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and other groups united to fight the crippling disease, succeeding with the polio-free declaration in 2014. WHO and others will assist in the vaccination drive, Tiwari said. Hyderabad is often referred to as "Cyberabad" because technology giants, including Accenture, Microsoft, Verizon and Oracle, have their India headquarters in the city.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/indian-state-alert-polio-strain-found-sewage-water-071541269.html?ref=gs
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waltky · Jun 17, 2016

2 drops, 2 rupees?...

How is India dealing with the Hyderabad polio scare?
Fri, 17 Jun 2016 - How Indian health officials are attempting to neutralise an active strain of the polio virus discovered in Hyderabad.

The southern Indian state of Telangana declared a "high alert'' for polio after an active strain of the virus was found in samples of sewage water in the state capital, Hyderabad. India was declared polio free in 2014 and Paarul Ratra spoke to some health officials to understand how such threats are neutralised.

What causes strains of the polio virus to be found in sewage?

According to Dr Rajesh Singh, who is the regional health officer for the northern Indian city of Allahabad, one major factor for the re-emergence of the polio virus in sewage is the fact that many children are immunised against polio through oral vaccination. "When the vaccine is given through the mouth, the liquid that gets dissolved and passed on in the form of stool accumulates in the sewage system. The virus in that vaccine becomes a stronger and more resistant strain," he said. Dr Pradeep Haldar, the deputy chairman of the national immunisation programme, said, "People will continue to suffer as long as the oral vaccine is around. It tends to circulate for a long time. It has been happening, it never stopped and it won't stop unless, and until, we stop using the oral vaccine". Internal migration and water pollution are also likely causes.

A woman walks to a polio vaccine camp with her baby

How do health officials respond to such a situation?

"When it was found that Hyderabad might be at risk of polio, an environmental sample was taken immediately - and the report proving that it was in fact polio came within a week on 7 June. If there's a case spreading in the environment, all the concerned areas are scanned and action is taken," Dr Haldar said. The scanning phase has three aspects - immunisation coverage, testing of all lame children in case they carry a virus and polio surveillance. "If these three parameters are clear, then we can confidently say that the risk is low because our surveillance methods are of a high standard. "Even if one child out of 2,000 is affected, then the risk would be 5% higher or if even one child is missed out during the surveillance, the risk would be high. But we are confident that this is not the case," he said. Dr Singh added that everyone within a five kilometre radius is vaccinated as soon as possible to mitigate the chances of the virus spreading. Officials in Hyderabad plan to vaccinate more than 300,000 children, starting on 28 June.

Is there a strong possibility that polio can resurface in India?

According to Dr Singh, the chances of polio resurfacing are very low. "If the child is tracked over the first year and if the vaccine is given on time, it can be completely eradicated," he said. However Dr Haldar said that given the problems with oral vaccinations, there are bound to be at least between 100 and 1,000 low-risk carriers of polio, as vaccinations against the "wild" polio virus - which occurs naturally - were stopped in 2011 after no new cases of the disease were reported.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-36549189
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Arkie · Jun 17, 2016

Such a nasty ugly country. The filth is everywhere. And they eat, drink, wash clothes in that sewage.

waltky · Aug 11, 2016

Polio makes a comeback in Nigeria...

Nigeria reports first 2 cases of polio in years, WHO says
Aug 11,`16 -- Nigeria has reported the first two cases of polio after more than two years, in an area newly liberated from Islamic extremists who attacked polio vaccinators in the past, the government and the World Health Organization said Thursday.

Nigeria's removal from WHO's list of polio-endemic countries in October had meant the entire African continent was free of the crippling disease. Two children have been paralyzed by polio in northeastern Borno state in two different local government areas that had been cut off by Boko Haram's Islamic extremist uprising, Health Minister Isaac Adewole said in a statement Thursday night. "Our overriding priority right now is to rapidly boost immunity in the affected areas to ensure that no more children are affected by this terrible disease," he said.

He ordered the deployment of a national emergency response team. WHO said it was working with the government to urgently prevent more children from being paralyzed, with large-scale immunizations and other measures. It was unclear how accessible the two areas are. The United Nations last month suspended aid to newly liberated but still dangerous areas of Borno after Boko Haram ambushed a humanitarian convoy, wounding three civilians including a UNICEF worker. That came even as aid groups declared half a million people are starving in those areas and children are dying daily of starvation.

Because of the Islamic uprising in the northeast, health workers have been testing sewage and stool samples of refugees from areas too dangerous to access. Nigeria's fight against polio has been dramatic. Two decades ago, it was recording 1,000 polio cases a year, the highest in the world. The Islamic extremists opposed the anti-polio campaign. Boko Haram gunmen killed nine women vaccinators in northern Kano state in February 2013, but the vaccinations continued.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-08-11-16-05-54
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waltky · Aug 13, 2016

Nigeria Gearing Up for Massive Polio Vaccinations...

Nigeria Gears Up for Massive Polio Vaccinations After New Cases
August 12, 2016 - Health officials in Nigeria are preparing for a massive polio vaccination campaign after two new cases emerged, a major health setback for the country which had been on track to eliminate the virus.

Nigerian health officials say they plan to vaccinate nearly 5 million children beginning this month in the country's northwestern state of Borno where the latest cases emerged. The Associated Press news agency quoted Borno state health commissioner Ibrahim Miringa as saying that military helicopters have already begun transporting polio vaccines to the volatile state, where Boko Haram Islamist insurgents operate.

The World Health Organization said Friday polio has circulated undetected for years in Borno state. "This is an area which is not easily accessible and this is probably why the virus has been able to circulate without being detected and it's causing these cases," said WHO Director of Polio Eradication Michel Zaffran. Boko Haram militants based in Borno state have publicly denounced vaccination campaigns and prevented health workers from operating in the area.

An unidentified health official administers a polio vaccine to a child in Kawo Kano, Nigeria

The new polio cases two children who were paralyzed with the virus -- came Thursday on what would have been Nigeria's two-year anniversary of being polio free. The country was on track to be certified free of the virus next year. Nigeria's health minister, Isaac Adewole, issued a statement Thursday saying that the cases were only detected because of a military offensive against Boko Haram. "I can assure the nation that we will do everything possible to be on top of the situation," he said.

Polio is a viral disease that usually affects children and can cause permanent paralysis. It is spread by poor sanitation and contaminated water. Last month, Doctors Without Borders issued a statement calling the health situation in Borno State "critical" with at least 500,000 people in urgent need of drinking water, food, medical care and shelter. The group called for a "massive relief operation" as the Nigerian army retook control of the main towns and villages, some of which had been under Boko Haram's sway for two years.

http://www.voanews.com/a/nigeria-gears-up-massive-polio-vaccinations-after-new-cases/3462251.html
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waltky · Apr 12, 2017

Nearly 5M Children in War-torn Yemen Vaccinated for Polio...

Nearly 5M Children in War-torn Yemen Get Polio Vaccine
April 10, 2017 — Nearly five million children under age five have been successfully vaccinated against polio in war-torn Yemen almost two-months after a nationwide immunization campaign was launched by the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank.

The campaign, which began on February 20, has taken much longer than usual to complete because of security challenges. The logistics involved in reaching millions of children with life-saving vaccines in war-torn Yemen are immense and complicated. WHO spokesman, Tarik Jasarevic, told VOA different parts of the country are controlled by different warring parties. He said informing them of the campaign, organizing health teams and transporting the polio vaccines takes a lot of time. “For this campaign, more than 5,000 vehicles have been rented, more than 40,000 health workers were mobilized.... This is a big operation, obviously. But, with the support of local religious leaders, political leaders, that element is absolutely crucial that it is being accepted by the population and that vaccination teams are being trained and prepared in advance,” he said.

A Yemeni health worker administers a dose of polio vaccine to a boy during a house-to-house immunization campaign in Sana'a, Yemen

Jasarevic said health workers only recently were able to bring the campaign to Yemen’s Sa’ada governorate. Despite intensifying violence, he said more than 150,000 children under age five were vaccinated against polio and nearly 370,000 children between the ages of six months and 15 years were immunized against measles there. He said the war has made routine immunizations in Yemen impossible, making nationwide immunization campaigns against polio and other killer diseases necessary. “We have seen for example in Syria that polio came back because there were areas where children were not immunized for some time. We do not want this to happen in Yemen. Yemen is still polio-free and we want to keep it polio-free and these campaigns are one of the ways to make sure that the virus cannot find a host,” Jasarevic said.

The United Nations reports Yemen’s two-year-long conflict has all but destroyed the country’s health system. It says the situation of Yemen’s children continues to worsen and many are dying from preventable diseases.

http://www.voanews.com/a/yemen-polio-vaccination-campaign/3803804.html
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Deckel · Apr 12, 2017

Alucard said: ↑

I thought Polio was wiped out for good but I was mistaken.
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A lot of people in the third world started refusing polio vax because they think it is a CIA conspiracy to sterilize their populations. It did not help matters when the CIA was busted for actually using these programs to gather intelligence. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-cia-fake-vaccination-campaign-endangers-us-all/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/11/cia-fake-vaccinations-osama-bin-ladens-dna

Margot2 · Apr 12, 2017

Polio is back in Syria.

waltky · Mar 18, 2018

Jihadis attack polio vaccination team in Pakistan...

Attack on polio vaccination team in Pakistan kills 3
Sunday, March 18, 2018 — Militants have ambushed a polio vaccination team in a remote tribal region in Pakistan, killing two of the medical workers and seriously wounding another two, officials said Sunday.

The gunmen also attacked tribal police and the paramilitary Frontier Corps when they responded to the attack late Saturday, killing one paramilitary and wounding another. Polio workers have come under attack on several occasions since it was revealed that the CIA used a polio vaccination campaign as a ruse to get information on Osama bin Laden, who was killed by U.S. commandos in Pakistan in 2011.Those revelations fed into claims by Islamic extremists that the vaccinations are part of a Western plot against Muslims. Pakistan is one of the only countries in the world where polio is still endemic, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria.

In Pakistan, at least nine people have been killed and dozens more hurt in an attack on an agriculture college. Gunmen wearing burqas stormed the campus on Friday morning. Police say they arrived in an auto-rickshaw and shot a guard before entering. The incident occured at the Agriculture Training Institute in the northern city of Peshawar. A wounded student, Ahteshan ul-Haq, told Reuters the university hostel usually houses nearly 400 students, but most had gone home for a long holiday weekend and only about 120 students remained. The siege ended after two hours when police and army troops killed all the gunmen. The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility saying it was targeting a military safe house. In December 2014, Pakistani Taliban gunmen killed 134 children at Peshawar's Army Public School, one of the single deadliest attacks in the country's history. The Pakistani Taliban are fighting to topple the government and install a strict interpretation of Islamic law. They are loosely allied with the Afghan Taliban insurgents who ruled most of Afghanistan until they were overthrown by U.S.-backed military action in 2001.

An official in Pakistan's restive Mohmand Agency, Younus Khan, said two workers from the seven-member polio vaccination team went missing after the attack but later returned unharmed. He says security forces are still searching for the attackers. Jamaatul Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed the attack. Khan said the bodies of the anti-polio workers were handed over to relatives and their funeral will take place later in the day. Provincial Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra condemned the attack, calling the polio workers "heroes."

https://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Official-2-polio-workers-killed-in-ambush-in-12761864.php
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