POLIO ERADICATION (POLIOMYELITIS)

In the early 80s infants mortality due to polio infection was very high, secondary to lack of health education, poor hygiene and unavailability of polio vaccine, but with public health awareness and vaccination, mortality due to infectious diseases have reduced drastically.  A study conducted by WHO showed  that Polio cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350 000 cases in more than 125 endemic countries then, to 74 reported cases in 2015.

Despite this huge achievement, the world is practically not safe until polio is totally eradicated. There are pockets of polio cases in developing countries like ours despite the huge funds already spent to eradicate polio, and the most recent outbreak in Nigeria is linked to the Insurgency in the North eastern part of Nigeria, which has denied several people in that area access to quality health care.

Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the fecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. Contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis. Polio mainly affects children under 5 years of age. There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented. Polio vaccine, given multiple times, can protect a child for life.

Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent. There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented by immunization.

There are two types of vaccine that protect against polio: inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) and oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). IPV is given as an injection in the leg or arm, depending on the patient's age. Polio vaccine may be given at the same time as other vaccines. Most people should get polio vaccine when they are children. Children get 4 doses of IPV at these ages: 2 months, 4 months, 6-18 months, and a booster dose at 4-6 years.

Considering the extent of damage caused by the polio virus evidenced by the attached pictures, Its important to ensure that our children get vaccinated to avoid the associated physical disability and eventually reduce the global financial burden as it was estimated that once global polio eradication is achieved a net gain of  40-50 billion dollar would be saved.