Poliomyelitis, know as polio, describes a highly infectiouse disease caused by a virus. While anyone can become infected by polio, this virus primarily targets young children under 5
Although
polio cases have been decreased dramaticlay since 1988 (over 99 percent), it
still exists today. In 1988, 350,000 cases were reported, but by the year of
2013, the number decreased to 416 infected people. While this sounds like a
great achievement, Polio will continue to be a threat as long as there is even
a single child in the world who carries the disease. This is because the virus
can easily be imported into a polio-free country and distributed rapidly to
people who are not immunized against polio.
Polio is spread
through person-to-person contact via fecal-oral transmission. In other cases it
can be spread by a common vehicle, like a container of water or food, and then
multiply in the intestine. Because of this, is can spread especially fast in a community with a low standard of
hygiene and sanitation.
Once a person
gets infected with the virus, different outcomes can be noticed. Most of the
infected people (90 percent) don’t show any symptoms and just carry the virus
in them, while in other cases victims can have symptoms like fever, fatigue,
headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. However, one
in 200 infections can lead to irreversible paralysis, which usually pertains to
the legs. This can happen in a matter of hours. In 5 to 10 percent of
infections, respiratory mussles get immobilized, leading to death.
Today, Polio
remains in 3 countries. Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanisatn. In Afghanistan,
there have been a total of 4 cases in 2015. In Nigeria there have been no new
cases in this year, but in 2014 a total of 6 was noticed and in Pakistan there
is a total number of 26 cases in 2015.
Unfortunately,
no real cure exists. However, the eradication of polio can be achieved by
prevention, though the use of vaccines. Two different kinds of vaccines exist:
the intactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) and the oral poliovirus vaccine
(OPV). IPV is used throughout much of the world and must be given multiple
times, but once finished, the child is immunized for his or her entire life.
One
private-public partnership that continues to strive for polio eradication is
the Polio Eradication Initiative. This partnership was a product out of the
forty-first World Health Assembly in 1988 with the aim to eliminate polio from
the world. National governments are collaborating with the World Health
Organization, Rotary International, the US Center for Disease Control and
Prevention, United Nation Inernational Children`s Fund, and others. Through its
multi-pronged programs consisting of research, new product development,
strategy formulation and policy development, polio is being eradicated.
When this goal
is achieved everyone in the world will benefit equally, as the danger of polio
will be eradicated and no child will have to suffer from the paralysis anymore.
- Jay
WHO - Polyomyelitis:
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