The ancient Roman emperor Claudius was affected by it.Franklin Delano Roosevelt campaigned for awareness of it.In 1952, Jonas Salk discovered a vaccine for it.And by 1994, the Americas were declared to be free of it.So, surely the polio virus is not a concern anymore --- or is it?
In 1988, the World Health Assembly launched a worldwide goal to conquer the problem, and thus the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was born.
According to the Sept. 23 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, the global effort has resulted in a significant decrease in the number of new cases of polio per day:from 1000 in 1988 to 3 in 2003. But the battle is still not over.
Six countries remain regions where the polio virus is endemic: Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Niger, Afghanistan and Egypt. Niger and Nigeria are countries which account for a large percentage of polio cases. But an even greater concern according to the NEJM is that, in the past 12 months, one of the three types of the virus -- wild poliovirus -- has spread to 12 African nations that were previously declared polio-free.This virus has been genetically traced to viruses in Nigeria, which accounts for 80% of the world's cases. Clearly, the polio virus is still a problem abroad, and the US will have to face this problem somewhere down the road if the virus is not eradicated soon.
Biology Prof. Elizabeth Machunis-Masuoka expressed her views on the global initiative.
Although the number of cases of paralytic polio may be relatively low compared to the number of benign cases, Machunis-Masuoka said, they are still significant and could be fatal. Without international efforts to eradicate the disease, she stated, polio could "very easily migrate back into the population."
While children in the U.S. are vaccinated against the polio virus as standard procedure, people who have been vaccinated may still be carriers for the disease.Moreover, most people with polio do not know that they are infected in the first place, which makes the problem an even greater concern.
The reasons for eradicating polio are obvious. As of Oct. 5, the World Health Organization reports that there have been 786 global case counts of the polio virus this year. The disease, also known as poliomyelitis, is highly infectious and usually affects children under the age of three. The virus infects people by entering through the mouth and replicating in the intestines. Paralysis, the most recognizable sign of the disease, is the greatest concern resulting from infection.
Although paralytic polio accounts for one in 200 cases of the polio disease, the numbers alone are enough to cause concern.Once the virus multiplies in the intestines, it may enter the blood and attack nerve cells, damaging muscle function and resulting in paralysis.An extremely dangerous form of polio known as bulbar polio can attack the nerve cells of the brain, causing difficulty in breathing and swallowing; this acute form of polio can be fatal without respiratory intervention.Even though we don't live in the 1920s-1930s and see the devastating effects of the polio virus here in the US, there is no reason to believe that the problem does not exist.Indeed, it is still a major problem, and vaccination efforts are the first step in eradication of polio.
Of the two types of polio vaccinations, the inactivated polio vaccine confers less immunity to the person than the oral polio vaccine does.While the OPV protects against all three types of polio virus, the IPV does not protect against wild polio virus.And unlike the OPV, the IPV is given by injection and does not protect the intestinal tract as well.
Now, 23 African counties are taking action against polio.With continued cooperation from these central and western African countries, along with $200 million dollars in funding, the global campaign for the eradication of polio can regain its momentum.Starting this month and November of this year, these countries will hold national immunization days which will continue into 2005.
If you are picturing African children lining up in rural areas to receive polio vaccinations with village elders looking on thankfully, think again.Support from African governments is only part of the story.According to an article that appeared in The Economist this June, religious leaders in some regions of the continent have persuaded state governments to suspend the distribution of polio vaccines.The areas where vaccinations were suspended showed a resurgence in the number of cases of polio.Here, particularly in the northern Muslim region of Nigeria, clerics preached that vaccinating Africa for polio was a western effort to depopulate the continent by sterilizing girls and spreading AIDS.The WHO, one of the leading organizations in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, has refuted these claims.Under pressure from clerics, the state government of Kano in northern Nigeria suspended polio vaccination for a few months; the United Nations Foundation reported that vaccinations efforts were resumed by the end of July.The state's Islamic governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, who was hesitant to reinstate vaccination at first, indicated that a "safe" batch of polio vaccines was to be imported from Indonesia.Although these regions have finally decided to cooperate with the global efforts by importing vaccinations from a fellow Islamic nation, the damage has already been done.The road to eradication of polio is certainly a bumpy one.Global health officials have met with many unexpected difficulties in the past few months, even though the possibility to eradicate polio has existed for years.
"You've seen the export of the disease [to other countries] again
Read More
U.Va. loses over $60 million in federal research cuts
By Bertie Azqueta | 18 hours agoThe impacted grants include three from the NIH, seven from the NEH, one from the United States Agency for International Development and four from the State Department.
Department of Education reverses course, awards Federal Executive Institute to U.Va.
By Ford McCracken | 3 days agoThe ED had previously awarded the institute to Charlottesville City Schools.
Students reflect on the life and legacy of Pope Francis
By Bertie Azqueta | 4 days agoAt the University, students shared a range of perspectives on his legacy of reform, inclusivity and his impact on the global Catholic community.
