In 1990, 23,366 cases of polio were recorded worldwide. In the first two months of 2017, only one case was declared (in Afghanistan). Good news according to virologist Bruno Lina who believes that the disease will soon be just a bad memory.
“The optimistic scenario would be for the last cases to be reported at the end of 2017, or even 2018” he exclaims in the columns of the Parisian.
One in 200 cases causes paralysis
Polio mainly affects children under 5 years old. The virus is transmitted through food and water contaminated with the virus and multiplies in the intestine. It can then quickly invade the nervous system, causing total paralysis within hours. About one in 200 cases causes paralysis (especially of the legs).
Thanks to an extensive vaccination campaign led by the World Health Organization (WHO), poliomyelitis cases have fallen by more than 99% since 1988, from around 350,000 cases to 74 cases reported in 2015. But as long as Only one child will remain infected, the disease will persist and other children will still be at risk of contracting polio.
Three more countries at risk
The three main countries where the risk persists are Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. In Europe, the disease was declared eradicated in 2010 but the disease has made a reappearance in Ukraine in 2015.
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