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Polio Resurgence In Nigeria And Its Implications on HWN POLIO UPDATE
After a two-year anniversary by Nigeria in July that the country has been polio free, two new confirmed cases of wild-polio in the north-eastern state of Borno have now returned the country to the global map of countries with polio.
Nigeria had the last confirmed case of polio which was reported in Africa, and was a year away from being certified polio-free because of massive mobilisation by government, international partners and local health providers.
Sunday Omilabu, a professor of virology at the University of Lagos, told newsmen that the implication of polio recurrence in Nigeria indicates the country is not yet in the clear and millions of children are once again at risk unless urgent steps are taken to nip the outbreak in the bud.
Omilabu noted that even a single case of polio virus is enough to be cause for alarm as it can rapidly spread and infect more people. The goal is for all the countries of the world to eliminate polio virus and Nigeria had been under observation after the initial declaration that polio had been eradicated. With the new development however, it becomes difficult for the country to be certified polio-free with the majority of the world.
Where the virus has been found, they need to make sure it is not allowed to spread, said Omilabu.
Reacting to the development, Isaac Adewole, minister of Health, said Thursday that the government would immediately immunise up to 5 million children in four states in an emergency response to the outbreak.
Our overriding priority right now is to rapidly boost immunity in the affected areas to ensure that no more children are affected by this terrible disease, Adewole said.
As an immediate response, about one million children are to be immunised in four local government areas in Borno State. Children in adjoining states of Yobe, Adamawa and Gombe will also be immunised bringing the number to about five million in the four states.
Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (for example, contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness of the neck and pain in the limbs. One (1) in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Among those paralysed, 5percent to 10 percent die when their breathing muscles become immobilised, noted the World Health Organisation.
In reaction to the recent cases, WHO has said it is collaborating with the Government of Nigeria and other partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to respond urgently and prevent more children from being paralysed. These steps include conducting large-scale immunisation campaigns and strengthening surveillance systems that help catch the virus early.
These activities are also being strengthened in neighbouring countries.
We are deeply saddened by the news that 2 Nigerian children have been paralysed by polio. The government has made significant strides to stop this paralysing disease in recent years. The overriding priority now is to rapidly immunise all children around the affected area and ensure that no other children succumb to this terrible disease, said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
August 11 was supposed to be a historic day for the global effort to eradicate the polio virus. It would have marked two years since someone on the African continent last contracted the wild-polio virus.
If the continent made it without a case for a third year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) could have certified it as polio-free and Africa would have joined four other WHO regions – the Americas, Europe, Western Pacific, and South-East Asia – as being polio-free.
But this didn’t happen. Nigerian health officials announced Thursday, the same day they expected to celebrate the anniversary, of two fresh cases of polio. The development means that Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only three countries in the world currently with outbreaks of wild polio virus.
With the setback, Nigeria must now wait at least until mid-2019 without new outbreaks to receive polio-free certification.
Genetic sequencing of the viruses suggests that the new cases are most closely linked to a wild poliovirus strain last detected in Borno in 2011. Low-level transmission of the poliovirus is not unexpected, particularly in areas where it is difficult to reach children with the vaccine. Subnational surveillance gaps persist in some areas of Borno, as well as in areas of neighbouring countries.
As recently as 2012, Nigeria accounted for more than half of all polio cases worldwide, but the country has made significant strides, recently marking 2 years without a case on 24 July 2016.
This progress has been the result of a concerted effort by all levels of government, civil society, religious leaders and tens of thousands of dedicated health workers. Recent steps including increased community involvement and the establishment of Emergency Operations Centres at the national and state level have been pivotal to Nigeria’s capacity to respond to outbreaks.
The two cases in Nigeria particularly highlight the need to prioritize immunization of children in hard-to-reach areas such as the Lake Chad region, which spans several countries and is often affected by conflict and large population movements.
Reaching these children requires vaccinating populations as they move in and out of inaccessible areas and using local-level groups and organizations, such as religious institutions and community based organizations, to negotiate access for vaccination teams.
Source: BusinessDay, HWN Africa.
: 2016-08-14 18:14:54 | : 1393
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