polio history
polio history |
- 8 New Polio Cases Confirmed During 2019 - PrecisionVaccinations
- First polio case of year in Sindh emerges in Lyari - Pakistan - ReliefWeb
- Man at center of 1950 Wythe County polio epidemic dies - Roanoke Times
| 8 New Polio Cases Confirmed During 2019 - PrecisionVaccinations Posted: 30 Mar 2019 06:09 AM PDT  The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) weekly report noted 8 new polio cases have been confirmed during 2019. The March 27th GPEI report confirmed polio cases in Pakistan (2) involving wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), and in Nigeria (2) involving circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2). Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General and Chair of the Polio Oversight Board, said in a press release that he 'urged everyone involved in the GPEI to ensure polio will finally be assigned to the history books by 2023.' Polio is caused by the poliovirus, which spreads from person to person, by drinking water or eating food that is contaminated with infected feces. In certain cases, polio can invade an infected person's brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The weekly GPEI report includes the following country-based updates:
To alert USA citizens, the CDC issued various Travel Alerts, which recommend that all travelers to these countries be fully vaccinated against polio. Recommended: The CDC says adults who completed their routine polio vaccine series as children should receive a single, lifetime adult booster dose of the polio vaccine. And, the CDC recommends that all infants and children in the USA be vaccinated against polio, as part of a routine, age-appropriate vaccination series. Besides the polio vaccination, the CDC suggests you are up-to-date on several Routine Vaccines before visiting these countries. These vaccines and related medications can be found at most 'travel-pharmacies' in the USA. Pre-trip, vaccine and medication counseling appointments can be scheduled at Vax-Before-Travel.  |
| First polio case of year in Sindh emerges in Lyari - Pakistan - ReliefWeb Posted: 22 Mar 2019 12:00 AM PDT  KARACHI: A three-year-old girl has been tested positive for poliovirus, becoming the first case of the crippling disease of the current year, officials in the Sindh health ministry said on Thursday. "It is with great regret that we announce the first polio case of Sindh in 2019 as a 36-month-old female child has tested positive for the virus in UC-9 of Lyari Town," said Dr Masood Solangi, director general of health, Sindh. He said the child had received oral polio vaccine (OPV) on multiple occasions, but she had a history of illness and suffered from malnourishment hence was low on immunity and developed weakness in her limbs. 'The fact that this girl is not paralysed shows that the oral polio vaccine works' He, however, said the child would not suffer from paralysis as she had been vaccinated with OPV multiple times and had fully recovered. "We must recognise the importance of vaccination," said coordinator of the emergency operations centre (EOC) for polio in Sindh, Umar Bullo. "The fact that this girl is not paralysed shows the oral polio vaccine works," he added. "Had she not received OPV on seven-plus occasions, she would have to suffer lifetime disability. This is also a message for the families who refuse to get their children vaccinated." The EOC official said by not vaccinating youngsters parents were exposing their own children and those of others to danger. The latest case in Sindh has taken the national figure to six this year. Last year Sindh had a single polio case reported in Karachi's Gadap neighbourhood, and that was a historical low for the province. The country reported 12 polio cases in 2018. "The Sindh government will respond strongly and a campaign is planned in the city from March 25," said an official. "Despite major improvements in the programme and a decline in cases, we cannot rest and must ensure that no child suffers from a vaccine-preventable disease." The EOC requested parents to take responsibility and comply with the recommendations given by health experts and cooperate with polio teams. Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2019  |
| Man at center of 1950 Wythe County polio epidemic dies - Roanoke Times Posted: 18 Mar 2019 12:00 AM PDT  John Seccafico's diagnosis tore through town like a line drive to hell: polio. He was 20 months old in 1950 when he contracted the virus that destroyed his ability to walk and left him with only minimal use of his hands. Back then, everybody knew little Johnny. His father, Jim, played second base for the Wytheville Statesmen, the town's wildly popular minor league baseball team. None of the teammates had children, so John was cuddled and adored by the team's faithful fans who gathered at what is now Wither's Park to watch games all summer long. That is how his family believes he caught the virus. "At all the ballgames, John would be there," said Seccafico's widow, Alice. "Everyone loved him, and he visited everyone. He was almost a team mascot. He was around a lot of people, circulating around a lot of people. It could have been anyone who gave him a kiss or a hug. But he was never about trying to explain it because it wouldn't change anything." After Seccafico's diagnosis, polio seeped into Wythe County like no other place in the nation, earning the town the infamous honor of having the highest number of polio cases per capita in the country. By the epidemic's end that autumn, the Wytheville area reported 189 cases of the virus and 17 deaths, or almost 10 percent, twice the national average. Most victims were children. Seccafico went on to lead a remarkable life with the support of a loving family, earning a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees, and working as a counselor to help those who needed it. He died March 4 at his home in Toms River, New Jersey. His wife said he died of acute respiratory failure brought on by post-polio syndrome, a condition that affects polio survivors years after their recovery, weakening muscles affected by the initial polio attack. "When he was asked about his end-of-life goals, he said, 'I want to go home and be in my own bed with my wife lying next to me, and that is what we did until he took his last breath, and it was peaceful and it was good," his widow said. "And it was a privilege to do so. He went on his own terms." John and Alice would have been married 30 years this June. They met when she was a parole officer and he counseled one of her parolees. "We went to lunch, and the rest is history," Alice said. "I fell in love with him almost immediately. He seemed extremely handsome to me, the most handsomest man I ever met. Every minute, with every breath, I loved him." Alice said John often wondered about Wytheville, the town where his life was thrown an unexpected curve ball. When he fell ill, he was taken to Roanoke, then eventually to the New York/New Jersey area where his parents lived when Jim Seccafico wasn't playing baseball. As polio spread that summer, the vibrant little town of Wytheville fell quiet as a ghost. The Statesmen canceled its season, and Jim Seccafico never played baseball again. John Seccafico harbored no ill will toward the town, but wondered if residents blamed him for their heartbreaking summer when life ground to a halt and the piercing cries of ambulance sirens dropped parents to their knees. "He almost felt like Typhoid Mary, blamed for bringing this scourge to the town," Alice said. Nevertheless, since Wytheville was such a big part of John's life story, Alice arranged a trip here in 2000. "He always talked about going back and about returning," Alice said. "I always planned our vacations, and I surprised him with a trip to Wytheville. He was excited about it. As we drove into town and saw the Welcome to Wytheville sign, he said, 'it's 50 years ago today that I got polio.' That didn't occur to me as I was doing all this planning." Once in town, the Seccaficos met with town of Wytheville Museum Director Frances Emerson, one of Jim Seccafico's teammates, Ed Zuber, and others. "He felt such warmth and acceptance," she said. "It's really strange given the perspective of looking back — how one person and one town had a history so intertwined, but were removed from each other so long. No one there [in Wytheville] knew what had happened to him or if he died until we came back. John's family never initiated any contact, so the town didn't know how he fared. It was quite refreshing for him to go back. It was refreshing for him and the town. It was really quite something." In 2004, Seccafico returned to Wytheville to participate in a public forum on the 1950 polio epidemic sponsored by the Wytheville Department of Museums. The department also published a history of the local epidemic, "A Summer Without Children." In addition, Seccafico's story is part of the permanent exhibit on the 1950 polio epidemic in Wythe County at The Thomas J. Boyd Museum. "Even though the illness changed the trajectory of his life, he was forever grateful to the town and the people," Alice said. "It wasn't the town's fault, and he had no bad feelings about the town." John never wanted anyone to feel sorry for him. "He'd say, 'Don't feel sorry for me. I have a good life. Don't feel bad for me. He didn't want pity,'" his wife said. "He rose above insurmountable obstacles and became a great man." Alice said John studied to become a counselor because he needed so much help in his life that he decided to help others with their struggles. "That didn't mean he didn't have struggles, but he was not a man of resentments, not a man to hold grudges," she said. "That's just now who he was. I was fortunate to have shared almost 30 years of life with him … what a privilege it was to have been married to him. "Even though what happened to him in Wytheville shaped and defined him, mostly in good ways, he understood that it was a circumstantial thing; it could happen to anyone anywhere, and it did," Alice said. "It's not about blame, it just was. No one intentionally did this, and no one would intentionally do this. It just is. It just was. His life is interwoven with Wytheville. It's not about blame; it's about living the best life in spite of what you've got. He was an ideal man. He was the love of my life. He was just a marvel to behold."  |
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