Polio: Kano Govt. conducts mop up exercise - P.M. News

Polio: Kano Govt. conducts mop up exercise - P.M. News
Poliomielitis: climatic changes and impossibility in border control - The European Sting
Poliovirus Detected in Iran - Vax Before Travel

Posted: 31 May 2019 07:03 AM PDT

Polio immunization

The Kano Health Ministry has conducted a mop up exercise as a fresh case of Circulating Polio Virus (CPV) was discovered in Tarauni Local Government Area of Kano.

Poliovirus is the causative agent of polio (also known as poliomyelitis), a member virus of Enterovirus C, in the family of Picornaviridae.

Polio is a highly contagious viral infection that causes paralysis, breathing problems, and may be fatal.

Malam Nura Haruna, the Primary Health Care Coordinator of the local government, confirmed that the virus was discovered in a sewage at Darmanawa settlement in the area.

He said: "We suspect that the virus emanated from Zaria in Kaduna State, where two cases of the virus were discovered earlier this year. So, we are suspecting that it might have arrived Kano from infected children coming to Kano."

Haruna further explained that scientific test was conducted in the area which confirmed the existence of the virus.

He said that stakeholders collaborated to conduct the mop up exercise by immunising all children in the area to prevent the spread of the virus.

The CPV has been linked to poor environmental conditions and could result to Wild Polio virus if not properly handled.

The Kano State has celebrated three years without polio before this discovery.

Poliomielitis: climatic changes and impossibility in border control - The European Sting

Posted: 21 May 2019 12:00 AM PDT

(Copyright: World Health Organization)

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Ana Flávia Cury Ivantes and Rariane Bernardino Marani, two third-year medical students from a private university in south region of Brasil. They are affiliated to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong to the writers and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA's view on the topic, nor The European Sting's one.

Climatic and global changes affect the life of the world population directly and indirectly, and these changes can contribute to the spread of diseases¹, as is the case of Poliomyelitis, a fecal-oral disease that since 1988 with the World Polio Eradication Campaign², the World Health Organization (WHO) has distributed certificates to regions where, in other criteria, the absence of wild poliovirus transmission is at least 3 consecutive years. According to WHO, the region of the Americas received the certificate in 1994, the Western Pacific region in 2000, the European region in 2002, and South-East Asia in 2014, with only the African and Eastern Mediterranean regions being required³.

In Brazil, the last case of wild poliovirus was in 1989; however, countries such Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan are considered as endemic areas, another 6 countries are in an outbreak situation, and approximately 15 countries are at risk. Efforts are being made both by WHO and by groups such as the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) to strengthen immunization, once the substantial migration across borders and climatic diferences between regions, which makes the spread of poliovirus na international concern and a public health emergency^4,5.

Poliomyelitis is an acute viral infectious contagious disease that occurs primarily through nasopharyngeal secretions, food, water, objects, and contaminated feces, caused by three types of poliovirus. Most of its occurrences have a form of asymptomatic presentation or non-specific febrile condition, but in more severe cases, Aseptic Meningitis, which is characterized by flaccid paralysis, may be present⁶.

Post-polio syndrome, in turn, is a derangement of the nervous system characterized by motor neuropathies, being an acute muscular atrophy and a motor neuron disease that has as main signs and symptoms myalgia, arthralgia, loss of strength and muscular fatigue, respiratory and swallowing dificulties. Such syndrome is manifested in individuals who had Poliomyelitis after approximately 15 years, and are diagnosed by excluding mainly neurological, orthopedic and psychiatric diseases⁶.

Immunization of polio occurs through natural infection, which generates lasting immunity to the particular type that caused the stimulus, or through vaccination that, for Brazil, occurs in the first year of life². However, currently, both Brazil, Europe and United States have seen a general drop in the rate of people seeking to vaccinate themselves, leading to a fragility in the health-disease process. This situation, coupled with the climate change, bad conditions of tratment of water and food, lack of knowledge about the risks of the disease, fears of symptoms due to vaccination and problems with the vaccine registration system, is related to the fact that many people find it necessary to vaccinate themselves only at an imminent risk of a particular disease, and when there is no such risk or when the disease is already eradicated, immunization for a particular pathology is not treated as a priority and vaccination does not occur. Therefore, there is the inverse effect, which is the greater spread of the disease favoring the sickness of the population, and the vaccination becomes the victim of its own success.

References

1) (LIS/ICICT/FIOCRUZ), Christovam Barcellos. Estudo sobre o impacto das mudanças climáticas na ocorrência de doenças vetoriais como dengue e malária nos biomas brasileiros. Available from: <https://www.icict.fiocruz.br/content/estudo-sobre-o-impacto-das-mudancas-climaticas-na-ocorrencia-de-doencas-vetoriais-como>. Access from: 17 jan. 2019.

2) BARRO, Pedro; RIBEIRO, Particia; GASPAR, Margarida. A Poliomielite. 2004. 20 f. TCC (Graduação) – Curso de Biologia, Universidade de Évora, Évora, 2004. Available from: <http://home.uevora.pt/~sinogas/TRABALHOS/2003/Polio.pdf>. Access from: 17 jan. 2019.

3) INITIATIVE, Global Polio Eradication. Certification. Available from: <http://polioeradication.org/polio-today/preparing-for-a-polio-free-world/certification/>. Acesso from: 17 jan. 2019. . Certification. Disponível em: <http://polioeradication.org/polio-today/preparing-for-a-polio-free-world/certification/>. Acess from: 17 jan. 2019.

4) INITIATIVE, Global Polio Eradication. Where we work. Available from: <http://polioeradication.org/where-we-work/>. Access from: 17 jan. 2019.

5) ORGANIZATION, World Health. Statement of the Nineteenth IHR Emergency Committee Regarding the International Spread of Poliovirus. Available from: <https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/30-11-2018-statement-of-the-nineteenth-ihr-emergency-committee-regarding-the-international-spread-of-poliovirus>. Access from: 17 jan. 2019.

6) VRANJAC, Alexandre. Poliomielite e Síndrome Pós-Poliomielite. Rev. Saúde Pública, São Paulo, v. 40, n. 6, p.941-945, 2006.

About the authors

Ana Flávia Cury Ivantes and Rariane Bernardino Marani are third-year medical students from a private university in south region of Brasil. Ana is a member of the academic league of Gastroenterology and the Humanization Project in health care (Humanizart), while Rariane is a part of the academic league of Maternal and Child Health and the Oncology and Hematology league. Both academics participate in extracurricular activities, and believe that the primordial principle for the formation of a good doctor and the realization of a quality medicine is the development of scientific research since graduation, which promotes new discoveries for health and minimizes the challenges of the health-disease process.

Poliovirus Detected in Iran - Vax Before Travel

Posted: 26 May 2019 06:01 AM PDT

The Global Polio Laboratory Network (GPLN) notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of the detection of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in the Konarak district, Sistan-Baluchistan province, Islamic Republic of Iran.

This district of approximately 68,000 residents is located in southeastern Iran, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The WPV1 was detected on April 20, 2019, in an environmental sewage sample. Two weeks later, on May 4, 2019, a follow-on sample tested negative for poliovirus.

The good news reported by the WHO is that no associated cases of paralysis have been detected in Iran, as of May 20, 2019.

The WHO has assessed the risk of international spread of WPV-1 from the Islamic Republic of Iran to be low.

The WHO risk assessment suggests that this event has limited public health implications, given Iran's very high levels of routine immunization coverage for oral polio vaccine (OPV3), estimated at 99 percent, and strong disease surveillance in Iran.

Moreover, the last laboratory-confirmed, indigenous wild polio case from the Islamic Republic of Iran was reported in 1997.

The Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education and local health authorities are undertaking a detailed investigation, and partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) are providing support as required.

However, this event in Iran reinforces the importance of implementing the Temporary Recommendations of the International Health Regulations (IHR) committee regarding the international spread of poliovirus by the Member States infected with WPV1.

Both Afghanistan and Pakistan have recently reported polio cases. As of April 17, 2019, the following polio cases were reported:

Afghanistan— 7 WPV1 positive environmental samples
Pakistan— 17 WPV1 positive environmental samples.

The WHO's International Travel and Health recommend that all travelers to polio-affected areas should be fully vaccinated against polio.

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Residents and visitors for more than 4 weeks from infected areas should receive an additional dose of OPV or inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), within 4 weeks to 12 months of travel.

Additionally, on April 18, 2019, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its travel vaccination suggestions to include polio for visitors to Afganistan.

Previously, the 12th meeting of the Emergency Committee under IHR regarding the international spread of poliovirus, held in February 2019, concluded that the risk of international spread of poliovirus remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and recommended the extension of Temporary Recommendations for an additional 3 months.

To comply with the Temporary Recommendations issued under the PHEIC, States infected with WPV1, circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) or circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 3 (cVDPV3) with potential risk of international spread, and states infected with circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) with potential risk of international spread, should declare an outbreak as a national public health emergency and consider vaccination of all international travelers.

Recent polio news:

Additionally, the WHO says it is important that all countries with frequent travelers and contacts with polio-affected areas, strengthen surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases in order to rapidly detect any new virus importation and to facilitate a rapid response.

Recently, the United Kingdom reported 44 AFP cases since January 2018.

Poliomyelitis, which is commonly known as polio, is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. Polio is a highly infectious disease and can cause permanent paralysis or death.

The poliovirus can spread easily and over large distances, says the WHO.

The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the fecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis, said the WHO.

Americans traveling to polio at-risk destinations can schedule vaccination reviews at Vax-Before-Travel.

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