Why the Furor about Polio?

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2022.1490

Keywords:

Poliomyelitis, Vaccine, Poliovirus

Abstract

Poliomyelitis is one of such diseases as measles and dracunculiasis that can be eradicated, because it meets the criteria for eradicable diseases: being infectious, having humans as major host, effective vaccines or treatment available for their control, and the availability of political and financial support for the eradication efforts. Ghana, with the rest of the world has already come far in the fight against polio, by reducing its incidence drastically (to zero as of now). The disease can only be prevented but not reversible, once infection results in paralysis and leaves victims permanently maimed, almost invariably reducing their quality of life. The recent outbreak (caused by a circulating vaccine-derived virus of the type 2 strain) was a call to pay more attention to the disease in order to realize the global aim of its elimination. All the attention needed by the disease is center around vaccination, which indeed was the tool used in combating the outbreak that ensued in Ghana.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What is Polio. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov; updated 2021 Sep 28; cited 2021 Nov 1.

World Health Organisation. [Internet]. Poliomyelitis (polio). Available from: http://www.who.int; updated 2020; cited 2022 Jan 1.

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Global Immunisation: Our Progress Against Polio. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov; updated 2021 Mar 28; cited 2021 Dec 20.

Ghana Health Service. Vaccine Derived Polio Virus (VDPV) Outbreak in the Chereponi District, North East Region. Ghana Weekly Epidemiological Report. 2019; 33(4).

Roser M, Ochmann S, Behrens H, Ritchie H, Dadonaite B. Eradication of Diseases. Our World in Data. Available from: http://ourworldindata.org/eradication-of-diseases; updated 2014; cited 2022 Jan 20.

Dowdle WR. The principles of disease elimination and eradication. WHO Bulletin OMIS. 1998;76 Suppl 2.

World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa. [Internet]. Three African countries halt polio outbreaks. Available from: https//www.afro.who.int/news/three-african-countries-halt-polio-outbreaks; updated 2019; sited 2022 Jan 20.

World Health Organisation. Poliomyelitis. Available from:https://www.who.int/teams/health-product-and-standards/standards; updated 2004 Jan 1; cited 2022 Jan 3.

Odoom JK, Forrest L, Dunn G, Osei-Kwasi M, Obodai E, Arthur-Quarm J, et al. Interruption of Poliovirus Transmission in Ghana: Molecular Epidemiology of Wild-Type 1 Poliovirus Isolated From 1995-2008. J Infect Dis. 2012; 206(7): 1111-20.

World Health Organization. Report of the SAGE Polio Working Group Meeting 7-8 September 2015. Geneva: The Organization; 2015.

Downloads

Published

2022-07-19 — Updated on 2023-02-16

Versions

How to Cite

Amo-Tachie, S. (2023). Why the Furor about Polio?. International Journal of Medical Students, 10(4), 429–431. https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2022.1490 (Original work published July 19, 2022)

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 4 (2022)

Section

Experience

Categories

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Samuel Amo-Tachie

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

  1. The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
  2. Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
  3. The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
    1. Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site; with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
    2. The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
    3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
    4. Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
    5. The Author represents and warrants that:
      1. the Work is the Author’s original work;
      2. the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
      3. the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
      4. the Work has not previously been published;
      5. the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
      6. the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
    6. The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from the Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.

Enforcement of copyright

The IJMS takes the protection of copyright very seriously.

If the IJMS discovers that you have used its copyright materials in contravention of the license above, the IJMS may bring legal proceedings against you seeking reparation and an injunction to stop you using those materials. You could also be ordered to pay legal costs.

If you become aware of any use of the IJMS' copyright materials that contravenes or may contravene the license above, please report this by email to contact@ijms.org

 

Infringing material

If you become aware of any material on the website that you believe infringes your or any other person's copyright, please report this by email to contact@ijms.org