This week, the World Health Organization (WHO) advises Ukraine to declare a state of emergency. Two children in southwestern Ukraine were diagnosed with polio in September.
Two polio cases may seem of no concern to some, however, this is the first reappearance of the disease in Europe since 2010. Half of the children in Ukraine have not been vaccinated against polio and the UN health agency recommends that Ukraine declares a state of emergency to prompt more actions from the government.
Reports from CTV News reveal that polio is a highly infectious, paralyzing disease that is on the edge of being eliminated. Six other countries including Pakistan and Afghanistan have been reported to have cases this year.
According to Youth Health Mag, the reappearance of the disease is due to circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus which is a rare strain of poliovirus that can emerge in populations that have not been immunized. The oral polio vaccine in Ukraine contains a weakened live virus that replicates in the intestine and are excreted in the stool. This is actually a good thing since it will offer immunity to other children who have not been vaccinated before dying out.
However in rare cases, the excreted virus can continue to circulate for a longer time and can mutate and grow stronger. The longer it survives, the more genetic changes it undergoes that can turn into a stronger form that can paralyze. This is the kind of virus that is circulating in Ukraine.
When the government learned about the two cases in September, it immediately launched a polio vaccine campaign in October. The main goal was to vaccinate 90 percent of children five and under. NPR reports that Canada is financing the campaign. UNICEF brings the oral polio doses to Ukraine. More so, Ukraine is now getting more support from the partners of Global Polio Eradication Initiative; WHO, UNICEF, U.S. Centers for Disease and Control, The Gates Foundation and Rotary International.
Now, unvaccinated children above ten are also being targeted. A total of three doses of the vaccine is needed. By early November, the government has vaccinated about 60 percent of the children five and under. This prompted the WHO to call for a health emergency.
If Ukraine declares a state of emergency, other government divisions will be mobilized to support the campaign. The information ministry could the produce public service announcements and vaccines can be transported throughout the country by the transportation ministry.
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