Polio: mass vaccination campaign in the Middle East

22 million children in Syria and the Middle East should soon be vaccinated against polio. Faced with the return of the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Children’s Fund (Unicef) are launching a mass vaccination campaign because the disease threatens the entire region and even potentially Europe.

Vaccine coverage undermined by the war

At the end of October, Syria launches a polio alert. 10 cases of paralyzed children have been reported to the UN. They are the first since 1999. Unicef ​​and WHO are therefore launching a vaccination campaign against polio. 1.6 million children are affected by this combined polio-measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. More than a third of them have already received it, including 116,000 in the Syrian region of Deir al Zour (in the northeast) where there is much fighting. The reduced vaccination coverage since the start of the civil war explains the resurgence of the disease in an area from which it had disappeared. WHO estimates that half a million young Syrians have not received immunizations. Before the civil war, 95% of children were vaccinated.

1.35 billion doses

If this vaccination campaign is a response to the Syrian cases, the alert is wider. The virus was detected for the first time in 14 years in sewage samples from several countries in the Near East (Egypt, Israel, West Bank and Gaza Strip). The vaccinations will take place for six months in many countries: Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan. It is the largest operation of its kind ever implemented in the region.

Unicef ​​has already provided 1.35 billion doses since the start of the year and should give 35 million more by the end of 2013. The campaign has already started in Syria. In Lebanon it should start quickly. In mid-November, Turkey and Egypt will be added. Indeed, the entire Middle East is potentially affected by the disease since the origin of the virus is terrestrial.

Europe in danger?

The polio virus is spread by mouth, among unimmunized populations. It multiplies in the intestines. Thus, even asymptomatic carriers can be the source of contamination. By evacuating the virus through feces, they contaminate the wastewater. The danger is particularly acute in underdeveloped regions.

Europe is far from being safe from polio, according to two German experts, Prof. Martin Eichner and Stefan Brockmann. Many Syrian refugees are fleeing the fighting for neighboring countries and Europe. These exiles risk reintroducing the virus in regions that have not known it for several decades, warn the two professionals. They particularly point the finger at the risk of contagion in regions where vaccination coverage is low, the countries of Eastern Europe in the first place.