Polio is preventable through immunization. The African continent has been officially declared free of the wild (natural) poliovirus that causes polio, a crippling disease that mostly affects children under five. However, polio is not completely eradicated in Africa, and in rare cases, vaccine-derived poliovirus can still infect local populations.
The Regional Certification Commission for Africa, an independent body established by the World Health Organization to combat poliomyelitis, has confirmed that the natural form of the disease has been completely eradicated from the continent. The last case of polio was recorded in Nigeria four years ago, and since then experts have officially confirmed that the virus is no longer spreading in 47 African countries. In the past, up to 75,000 African children contracted the disease each year. The virus is currently found only in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The first symptoms of the disease include high fever, lethargy, headache, vomiting, stiff neck and joint pain. The disease then affects the nervous system and progresses rapidly: paralysis can occur within a few hours. Irreversible consequences occur in about one in 200 cases of infection. Between five and ten percent of these patients die due to paralysis of the respiratory muscles. There is no effective treatment for those who have already contracted the disease, but vaccinating children against polio provides lifelong immunity.
Nigeria has become the latest country in Africa to eradicate polio. 10 years ago, it accounted for more than half of all cases of the disease worldwide. The vaccination campaign in Nigeria required a tremendous effort. It was necessary to reach remote and dangerous areas where armed violence prevailed. Some health workers were killed. The poliovirus is transmitted from person to person, mainly through contaminated water.
The polio vaccine was developed in 1952. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what will happen next. The number of episodes should remain the same. End of story: Podcast Advertising. Two of the three strains of wild poliovirus have been eradicated worldwide. On Tuesday, Africa was declared free of the third and final strain. More than 95% of Africa’s population has been immunized against polio. This was one of the key requirements for the continent to be certified completely free of the wild form of the virus. However, vaccine-derived poliomyelitis (also known as cVDPV) still exists in Africa – a rare form of the disease that occurs as a result of mutation of the attenuated virus used for oral vaccination. As the WHO explains, “with extremely low population immunization rates, shed vaccine virus can continue to circulate for a prolonged period”. “In very rare cases, the vaccine virus can genetically change into a form that can cause paralysis,” the WHO reports. The organization clarifies that “the risk of VAPP is extremely small compared to the enormous public health benefits” of using the oral polio vaccine. According to the World Health Organization, 177 cases of the disease have been confirmed since the beginning of the year in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and Angola. At the same time, as noted by the New York Times (subscription required), there were 320 reported cases of polio in Africa last year, compared to 68 cases in 2018. According to the newspaper, the number of such cases could rise again in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic has led to the suspension of vaccinations in many regions. Polio cannot be cured, but the creation of a vaccine by Dr. Jonas Salk in 1952 gave hope that children could be protected from the disease. In 1962, Albert Sabin developed an oral polio vaccine that is still used worldwide today.
In 1996, polio paralyzed 75,000 children in Africa, with cases reported in every country on the continent. That same year, Nelson Mandela launched the campaign to “Eradicate Polio from Africa. Millions of health workers traveled from village to village, vaccinating children. Many public groups have provided financial support, including Rotary clubs, which played a major role in polio eradication efforts in the 1980s. Since 1996, billions of doses of vaccine have been delivered to Africa, preventing an estimated 1.8 million cases of the disease. The new communities at risk of poliomyelitis lived in regions that were difficult for vaccinators to reach. The last recorded case of wild poliovirus infection occurred in 2016 in Borno state in northeastern Nigeria, a remote area that is also a stronghold of the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. Then it became a huge disappointment because the country had made significant progress against the poliovirus and had gone two years without a new case. The conflict with Boko Haram has made some regions of Nigeria, particularly Borno State, inaccessible. Approximately two million residents have been forced to leave their homes. Health workers, 95% of whom were women, traveled by boat across Lake Chad in the conflict zone to deliver vaccines to remote villages. The rumors and disinformation caused them a lot of trouble. In 2003, the vaccine had to be temporarily suspended in Kano State and some other places in northern Nigeria because some Muslim preachers spread the belief that the vaccine contained a component that would make women infertile and that it was part of “America’s conspiracy against Muslims. Laboratory tests conducted in Nigeria by local experts proved that there was no component, and vaccination resumed next year. But the rumors have not gone away. In 2013, nine female doctors were killed in Kano state while administering vaccinations – presumably by “Boko Haram” militants. Paralyzed Nigerians with poliomyelitis helped overcome prejudices and gain the trust of local residents.
Misbah Lavan Didi worked hard to convince parents who did not want to vaccinate their children. “Many refused to be vaccinated, but they saw how painstakingly and literally we crawled out to talk to them,” says Misbahu Lavan Didi, chairman of the Nigerian Association of Polio Survivors. We asked, ‘Do you want to protect your children so they don’t become like us? The largest public coalition of polio fighters was formed, including not only victims of the disease, but also tribal leaders and religious authorities, teachers, parents, doctors, and volunteers. Together, they reached the remotest corners and vaccinated children. The last case in Africa outside of Nigeria occurred in 2014 in the Somali province of Puntland. The poliomyelitis virus can easily enter a polio-free country and spread rapidly among the unvaccinated population. This is exactly what happened in Angola, which eradicated polio in 2001 despite civil war. Four years later, however, new cases were reported, most likely of foreign origin. WHO emphasizes the need for vigilance until poliovirus, including vaccine-derived poliovirus, is completely eradicated worldwide. If protection is weakened by stopping vaccination of young children, poliomyelitis can reappear and spread very quickly. Many children may die from diseases that medicine has long since learned to control. The reason is the suspension of routine vaccinations due to the Covid-19 epidemic.