In less than 30 years, polio has been 99% eradicated thanks to vaccination. This infectious disease is feared today in 3 countries around the world and has affected 27 people.
Obstacles persist, but the eradication of polio is within reach, rejoice the international health authorities on the occasion of the world day against this disease. She could become the 2th human pathology eliminated after smallpox.
The merciless fight against polio was started in 1988 by UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International and the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). An initiative which in less than 3 decades has reduced the number of new cases by 99%, from 350,000 cases to 27 in 2016. Today, only 3 countries are facing difficulties in eradicating polio: Afghanistan ( 8 cases notified this year), Pakistan (15 cases) and Nigeria (4 cases identified this summer, the first cases on the African continent since 2014).
Polio affects people of all ages, but children under 5 are the most vulnerable. The virus invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours. In 5 to 10% of cases, patients die because the respiratory muscles can no longer function. Dramatic consequences which have now disappeared thanks to the mass vaccination campaigns carried out on all continents. “Today, more than 15 million people walk, whereas they could have been paralyzed by this disease, underlines the WHO.
A new vaccine
But this victory against polio cannot be celebrated as long as children escape vaccination. In fact, two strains of the virus are still active in many countries and it only takes one person to be infected for the number of cases to soar again. “Failure to eradicate in the last bastions of the disease could lead to 200,000 new cases reappearing each year over the next 10 years,” warns the WHO.
To completely eliminate the virus, the international authorities have therefore opted for a simplified vaccine. Introduced last April, this new vaccine no longer protects against 3 strains but against the 2 still present on the planet. Some 300 million doses have been distributed.
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