Is Polio Making a Comeback? | Gist of Rajya Sabha TV / RSTV (now Sansad TV) - UPSC PDF Download

Context

• Polio virus cases are reported in cities like New York, London and Jerusalem, for the first time in decades.

Introduction

• In 2022 alone, 177 cases of polio have been reported.
• The dreaded disease killed or paralyzed over half a million people every year around the world for the first half of the 20th century.
• It affects mainly children under five.
• It is often asymptomatic but can also cause symptoms including fever and vomiting. 
• Around one in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis, and among those patients, up to 10% die. 
• Due to mass vaccinations globally, the wild form of the disease has disappeared. 
• It remains endemic in just about two countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan. 
• A few imported cases have been reported in countries like Malawi and Mozambique earlier this year, the first since the 1990s.

Reasons for re-occurrence of Polio cases

• Other immunizations were neglected as a result of the increasing attention on the COVID-19 vaccination.
• Some groups are sceptical of immunizations, including Hasidic Jews.
• A lapse in immunity could bring the virus back.
• Many parents in nations like the USA are sceptical about the use of vaccines, and the immunisation can be avoided by legal means.
• Due to the disease's long-ago elimination in many nations, including the United States, undervaccination is another contributing factor.

India and Polio eradication

• In India, vaccination against Polio was a continuous process.
• The last case was reported in 2011 and the World Health Organization (WHO) declared India free from Polio in 2012.

India’s efforts in eradicating the disease

• Surveillance:
  • India conducted one of the best surveillance through ICMR-NIV Mumbai.
  • The sewer surveillance is also done apart from the surveillance of children under 15 years of age.
  • India has 10 sites for continuos surveillance activities throughout the year.
• Vaccination:
  • India provided a very high vaccine coverage through its pan India campaign, which was a huge success.
  • India uses both kinds of vaccines: Live attenuated virus vaccine and Killed virus vaccine.
  • One gives mucosal immunity whereas the other provides broader immunity against neuro-paralytic events.

Views on severity of the problem

• Its prevalence in wealthy nations like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel (Jerusalem) raises the possibility of an outbreak.
• There are still incidences of polio worldwide despite continuing attempts. This demonstrates how powerless the world community is.
• Due of the epidemic, the vaccine campaign has been put on hold in several nations.
• A significant difficulty may arise from the importation of cases from the African continent (Malawi and Mozambique) to third-world communities.
• In many nations where it has become an outdated and unimportant threat, strategy implementation has weakened.

Measures taken by WHO

• WHO launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative 2022-2026.
• WHO has also launched a new vaccine for circulating (vaccine-derived polio virus) for P2 under 2022-2026.
• WHO has given approval to bivalent vaccines.

Way Ahead

• The continued vigilance of the new cases is the need of the hour.
• Strengthen the surveillance system.
• The executive of the countries should work with the WHO to eradicate it at the country level.
• The best lessons learned from the global efforts should be adopted.
• Continued and robust efforts of vaccination should be run by the national governments across the world.

Conclusion

• Under-vaccination in some parts of the world has caused the emergence of new cases in the world. If the issue is blown out of control, it will be a huge setback in the global efforts for the eradication of Poliovirus. Though there might not be a reason for panic, the efforts should continue at a better pace to completely eradicate the menace of Polio by 2026.