(Report) World Polio Day: A global look at polio - October 24, 2010

A child in the northern Nigerian high-risk state of Kano receives a polio drop CREDIT: UNICEF

(HN, October 24, 2010) -- In 1985 there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries across the globe. Today there are 4 polio endemic countries in the world: Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Nigeria.

 A brief look at polio around the world today

* Of the 58 new cases reported in Africa in the past six months, 48 are from the outbreak in Angola (20) and its spread into the Democratic Republic of Congo (28). 

* Countries across West Africa are in the final stages of planning for a large scale immunization campaign that will start on 28 October. Further campaigns are planned for late November.

* One year has passed since Cameroon has reported a case of wild poliovirus. 

* In the past 12 months, 51% of all cases of polio globally have been reported from the WHO's European Region - most of these from the outbreak in Tajikistan.

* Pakistan has more cases than the other three endemic countries combined (88 compared with 65). Of the 113 districts affected by polio worldwide in the past six months, 20% are in Pakistan.

* Nigeria has had the greatest decrease in cases of polio in 2010 – polio cases have dropped by more than 99 percent – from 312 cases in 2009 to 3 in 2010. Much of the progress is attributed to the engagement of traditional leaders in the high-risk northern states, and heavy social mobilization by key players UNICEF, Rotary International, WHO and the Gates Foundation.

Polio: Contracting & Symptoms 

Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that invades the nervous system. It invades the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs.

Polio is a disease that is most often spread through contact with the stool (bowel movement) of an infected person. Polio germs can also be spread through food and water. The disease mainly affects children under 5 years old, but unvaccinated people of any age are at risk.

Up to 95% of persons infected with polio will have no symptoms. About four to eight percent of infected persons have minor symptoms such as fever, fatigue, nausea, headache, flu-like symptoms, stiffness in the neck and back, and pain in the limbs which often resolves completely. Fewer than 1% of polio cases result in permanent paralysis of the limbs (usually the legs). Of those paralyzed, 5-10% die when the paralysis strikes the respiratory muscles.

There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented. Polio vaccine, given multiple times, can protect a child for life.

Future of Polio eradication

A Strategic Plan 2010-2012, launched by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, and spearheaded by Rotary International, UN Children’s Fund  UNICEF, the World Health Organization, national governments and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, aims to build on success in endemic countries.

In May 2010 the World Health Assembly welcomed the new plan, which hinges on activities at the field level, while expressing deep concern about the $1.3 billion funding shortfall – out of a budget of $2.6 billion – over the next three years.

“The next three years, and especially the next 12 months, are critical to the polio eradication initiative and, by extension, the entire international public health agenda,” said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, calling on the international community to support the new effort.

Organizations such as the UN Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have also been instrumental in raising awareness and money for the vaccines that are needed to eradicate polio from the planet.

Click on the video below to hear traditional leader Sarkin Yaki of Kano speak about the chances for eradicating polio:

HUMNews Staff (sources: UN Foundation, Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary International, UNICEF, WHO, CDC).