Before the development of the first poliovirus vaccine in 1955, poliomyelitis caused paralysis and death in up to half a million people each year, News.az reports citing Deutsche Welle.
Publish dateSaturday 25 January 2025 - 11:19
Story Code : 305756
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Monitoring: By 2000, mass vaccination campaigns, armed with new types of oral polio vaccines, had almost eradicated wild poliovirus, except for a few isolated regions.
In 2020, the whole African region was declared free of wild poliovirus, leaving just two countries yet to stop the spread of the disease: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Mass immunization programs had Pakistan on the brink of eradicating polio in 2023, with just six remaining cases of the wild form of the virus. But now, cases are climbing again 73 cases were reported in 2024.
"It has spread to all districts of Pakistan. We've snatched defeat from the jaws of victory," said Zulfiqar Bhutta, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
The reason, Bhutta writes in a commentary in the Lancet, is that cases of poliovirus are spilling over the border from Afghanistan. The genetic strains of wild poliovirus in Pakistan are all from Afghanistan.
Why is poliovirus spreading from Afghanistan to Pakistan?
Bhutta leads groups working on child immunization strategies in conflict zones. He was involved in the largest trials of poliovirus vaccine interventions in Afghanistan, working "very successfully" with the Islamic Emirate until a year ago.
But poliovirus eradication programs have faced multiple setbacks over the years since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. Public health officials say "vaccine hesitancy" (when people don't want to take vaccines), poor sanitary conditions and regional insecurity have all sabotaged vaccination efforts.
Bhutta, who was back in Afghanistan in December, said the Taliban did not allow female health professionals to work, and that impedes public programs, including vaccinations.
"Some health workers have got into the communities. But they've somehow dispersed the goddamn poliovirus over the entire area," Bhutta said.
Now, health authorities do not have reliable data on the number of poliovirus cases in Afghanistan. The poliovirus can cause paralysis in extreme cases, especially young children, and can be fatal if the virus affects breathing muscles.
"It's a virus that does not want to be eradicated, so give it an inch and it will take a yard," Bhutta said./News.Az
In 2020, the whole African region was declared free of wild poliovirus, leaving just two countries yet to stop the spread of the disease: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Mass immunization programs had Pakistan on the brink of eradicating polio in 2023, with just six remaining cases of the wild form of the virus. But now, cases are climbing again 73 cases were reported in 2024.
"It has spread to all districts of Pakistan. We've snatched defeat from the jaws of victory," said Zulfiqar Bhutta, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
The reason, Bhutta writes in a commentary in the Lancet, is that cases of poliovirus are spilling over the border from Afghanistan. The genetic strains of wild poliovirus in Pakistan are all from Afghanistan.
Why is poliovirus spreading from Afghanistan to Pakistan?
Bhutta leads groups working on child immunization strategies in conflict zones. He was involved in the largest trials of poliovirus vaccine interventions in Afghanistan, working "very successfully" with the Islamic Emirate until a year ago.
But poliovirus eradication programs have faced multiple setbacks over the years since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. Public health officials say "vaccine hesitancy" (when people don't want to take vaccines), poor sanitary conditions and regional insecurity have all sabotaged vaccination efforts.
Bhutta, who was back in Afghanistan in December, said the Taliban did not allow female health professionals to work, and that impedes public programs, including vaccinations.
"Some health workers have got into the communities. But they've somehow dispersed the goddamn poliovirus over the entire area," Bhutta said.
Now, health authorities do not have reliable data on the number of poliovirus cases in Afghanistan. The poliovirus can cause paralysis in extreme cases, especially young children, and can be fatal if the virus affects breathing muscles.
"It's a virus that does not want to be eradicated, so give it an inch and it will take a yard," Bhutta said./News.Az
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