More Polio Cases Now Caused by Oral Vaccine - VOA Learning English

More Polio Cases Now Caused by Oral Vaccine - VOA Learning English

More Polio Cases Now Caused by Oral Vaccine - VOA Learning English

Posted: 27 Nov 2019 02:53 PM PST

Four African countries have reported new cases of polio linked to the oral vaccine meant to protect against the disease.

Health numbers show more children are now being paralyzed by viruses from the vaccinations than wild polio viruses.

Last week, the World Health Organization, or WHO, and partners noted nine new polio cases caused by the oral vaccine in Nigeria, Congo, Central African Republic and Angola. Seven other African countries have similar cases, they said.

WHO and its partners also noted the problem in Asia. Of the two countries where polio remains widespread – Afghanistan and Pakistan – cases linked to the vaccine have been found in Pakistan.

In rare situations, the live virus in the oral vaccine can change into a form capable of causing polio infections. All the current cases that came from oral vaccines have been linked to a Type 2 virus contained in the vaccine. The Type 2 wild virus was eradicated years ago.

Polio, short for poliomyelitis, is a highly infectious disease. It spreads in water or food and usually affects children under the age of 5. About one in 200 infections leads to paralysis. Among those, a small percentage die when their breathing muscles no longer work.

Last week, donors promised $2.6 billion to fight polio as part of a plan aimed at eradicating the disease by the year 2000. The plan was launched in 1988. Since then, numerous targets for defeating the disease have been missed.

To eradicate polio, more than 95 percent of a population needs to be vaccinated. For a long time, WHO and partners have depended on oral polio vaccines partly because production costs are low. In addition, the oral vaccines are easy to give, requiring only two drops per dose. Western countries use a more costly injectable polio vaccine that contains an inactivated virus, one that cannot cause polio.

WHO officials work with the Independent Monitoring Board, or IMB, to measure polio eradication. In a report this month, the IMB warned that polio virus from vaccines is "spreading uncontrolled in West Africa." The report said its spread raises important questions and problems for the eradication process.

I'm Alice Bryant.

The Associated Press reported this story. Alice Bryant adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

__________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

oral – adj. of or relating to the mouth

paralyze – v. to make a person or animal unable to move or feel all of part of the body

eradicate – v. to eliminate or destroy something harmful

dose – n. the amount of a medicine, drug, or vitamin that is taken at one time

Acute Flaccid Myelitis in Children | American Academy of Pediatrics - AAP News

Posted: 01 Nov 2019 12:00 AM PDT

  1. Daniel R. Taylor, DO*
  2. Sharyu Krishnakumar, MD*
  1. *Department of Pediatrics, Saint Christopher's Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA

An excerpt from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in April 2019 describes a 3-year-old boy from the Atlanta area. "AC scoots around on his bottom in the living room of his Winder home as he plays with a toy train set. When it's time for school, his mother helps the 3-year-old into a black wheelchair with blue and green bars on the frame and a red Lego robot keychain attached to the headrest." The article goes on to explain that AC has had 4 surgeries and multiple infusions and may require potentially lifelong physical and occupational therapy. "This will never be over for us," his mother agonized in this article. AC was diagnosed earlier in the year as having acute flaccid myelitis (AFM).

Reminiscent of this 2019 article, several children living in small pockets of Brooklyn, New York, in the summer of 1916 awoke and were not able to move their arms and legs. Terrified parents rushed their children to local health centers, where physicians were perplexed by these symptoms, with many physicians having gone through their entire careers without ever seeing a case of what they soon recognized was paralytic poliomyelitis (polio). By December 1916, the polio epidemic had spread from New York City to more than 2 dozen states, spreading to the Midwest. Within 7 months there were 27,000 reported cases of polio, and 6,000 people had died, with thousands more paralyzed or having permanent limb deformities.

Fast forward 70 years to 1987, when doctors in the United States started reporting a few dozen cases of a severe respiratory illness tied to a virus that was first identified as enterovirus …

Health officials to parents: submit children to oral polio vaccination - Philippines - ReliefWeb

Posted: 13 Nov 2019 12:00 AM PST

By Danilo E. Doguiles

KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato, Nov 13 (PIA) — "We strongly urge parents to submit their children aged 0 to 59 months to oral polio vaccination," said Dr. Rogelio Aturdido Jr., provincial health officer, as he appealed for public support for the upcoming Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio.

Dr. Aturdido bared that from November 25 to December 7, health workers should be able to administer polio vaccine to at least 108,000 of the estimated 114,000 below 5-year old children in South Cotabato.

The two-week massive oral polio vaccination in South Cotabato and all provinces in Mindanao is in response to the Department of Health's declaration of polio outbreak and subsequent order to conduct comprehensive vaccination against the disease.

"We have to cover at least 95% of 0 to 59-month-old children to achieve herd immunity against polio," said Genesis Navales, immunization program focal person of the Integrated Provincial Health Office.

Herd immunity is a condition where enough individuals in a population have been immunized and able to protect those who have not been vaccinated against the pathogen.

From November 25, parents may bring their children to the nearest barangay health center for the vaccination.

To ensure greater coverage, health workers will bring the program to hard-to-reach sitios and puroks. They will also conduct house-to-house visitations to cover those who won't be able to visit health centers.

IPHO plans to install vaccination centers were many children are brought such as malls, terminals, and parks.

"During the vaccination, each child will be given two drops of monovalent oral polio vaccine (mOPV) Type 2. As proof of administration, the child's pinky finger will be marked with an indelible ink," Navales said.

She emphasized that "children who have already received polio vaccination and those who are scheduled to get theirs in the coming weeks, will be given the oral polio vaccine."

Meanwhile, Dr. Aturdido assured parents that the vaccine has been proven effective and safe and has been used by the World Health Organizations for decades.

"Vaccination is the most effective protection against poliomyelitis or polio," Aturdido stressed. Sanitation and proper hygiene are also important to prevent one from contacting the virus, he emphasized.

According to World Health Organization, "polio is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects children. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly by faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestines from where it can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis.

"Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. In small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent."

On September 19, the Department of Health declared polio outbreak after recording a polio case involving a 3-year old in Lanao del Sur. This was the first case in the country in 19 years.

The second case was confirmed in Laguna in September and the third case in Maguindanao last month.

On November 5, DOH confirmed the fourth polio case, also in Maguindanao.

South Cotabato last recorded a polio case in 2015 but that, according to Provincial Epidemiology Surveillance Unit chief Cecil Lorenzo, "the case was ambiguous, meaning the child was shedding poliovirus but did not show any symptom of the disease."

A second round of polio vaccination has been slated on January 6 to 18. (DED/PIAXII)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Roseola vs. measles rash: What is the difference? - Medical News Today

Image
Roseola and measles are two different diseases that present with a high fever and a rash. They are both most commonly seen in childhood, although measles can affect people of any age, and roseola in adults is very rare. While both diseases share similarities, there are distinguishing factors, such as how the symptoms present and the disease progression. Read on to find out the difference between roseola and measles rashes. Roseola, also known as roseola infantum, sixth disease, or exanthema subitum, is a viral infection that typically affects children. The human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) or human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7) causes roseola. The disease is spread through tiny respiratory droplets that people either breathe in or pick up from surfaces they touch. This disease usually presents in children between the ages of 6–12 months . Children who have this disease experience a high fever, followed by a pink or red rash. Roseola is a self-limiting viral illness, meaning it will typically go awa...
Read more

poliomyelitis treatment

Image
poliomyelitis treatment Drug and Device News March 2019 - P&T Community Posted: 04 Mar 2019 10:35 AM PST NEW DRUG APPROVALS Ontruzant, a Herceptin Biosimilar The FDA has approved trastuzumabdttb (Ontruzant, Samsung Bioepis Company, Ltd.) for HER2-overexpressing breast cancer and HER2-overexpressing metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Trastuzumabdttb, a HER2/neu receptor antagonist, is the third FDA-approved biosimilar of Herceptin (Genentech). Patients should be selected for therapy based on an FDA-approved companion diagnostic. Trastuzumab-dttb carries a boxed warning about the risks of cardiomyopathy, serious and fatal infusion reactions, embryo-fetal toxicity, and pulmonary toxicity. Ontruzant will be marketed and distributed in the U.S. by Merck. Sources: Samsung Bioepis, January 21, 2019; Ontruzant . prescribing information, January 2019; FDA, January 18, 2019 Vaxelis, a Combination Vaccine T...
Read more

Coronavirus fake news echoes century-old polio fears - Newsroom

Image
Coronavirus fake news echoes century-old polio fears - Newsroom Coronavirus fake news echoes century-old polio fears - Newsroom Posted: 05 Feb 2020 08:32 AM PST FEBRUARY 6, 2020 Updated 15 hours ago Dr Heather Battles Dr Heather Battles is a lecturer in anthropology at the University of Auckland and researches infectious diseases and epidemics. Show more Ideasroom During the past month, in the confusion and uncertainty over the precise origin of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, many alternate ideas or 'conspiracy theories' have sprung up and spread widely via social media including Twitter and Facebook. I have had a sense of déjà vu as many of these claims have parallels in how people responded to another 'emerging' epidemic disease a century ago: polio. The first example that struck me is the idea (spread by US fake news website Infowars and others) that the roll-out of 5G technology is to blame, wit...
Read more