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Eradicated from India, back in Europe: WHO confirms two cases of polio in Ukraine

A 10-month-old baby and a four-year-old child have been diagnosed with the polio virus in Ukraine's southwestern Zakarpattya region, which borders four European Union member states.

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First polio cases since 2010 found in Ukraine
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Two polio cases have been confirmed in western Ukraine, the first to be recorded in Europe since 2010, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday.

A 10-month-old baby and a four-year-old child were diagnosed with the polio virus in Ukraine's southwestern Zakarpattya region, which borders four European Union member states, after paralysis associated with the disease was detected, the Ukrainian health ministry had said on Tuesday. "It's the first polio case in Europe since 2010," WHO spokesman Oliver Rosenbauer said.

The last case of polio had previously been recorded in Ukraine in 1996, he added. In a statement released on Tuesday, the WHO said it believed "the risk of international spread from Ukraine to be low" but noted the infected region shared borders with Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. The WHO Regional Office for Europe said it had been notified of the cases late last month, adding it would help Ukrainian authorities tackle the virus. "WHO and UNICEF are providing the ministry of health with both technical and on-site support in planning and implementing large-scale supplementary immunisation activities with oral polio vaccine to rapidly stop (the) circulation of the virus," the WHO said.

The Ukrainian health ministry conceded that the country had struggled getting children vaccinated against the crippling virus since 2008. Inadequate vaccination puts Ukrainian children at risk of contracting the virus, with only half fully immunised against polio and other vaccine-preventable ailments last year, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative said. Affecting mostly children under the age of five, polio can lead to irreversible paralysis.

According to the WHO, the number of polio cases has decreased by over 99% since 1988. Only 416 cases were recorded in 2013, down from the 3,50,000 people infected with the virus in 1988. Three countries - Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan - were considered polio-endemic by the WHO last year. 

India's Polio Story

India's victory against polio has been hailed by many as the greatest healthcare feat the world has ever witnessed. The last time the nation reported a positive case of polio was in 2011 but before that it was one of the most polio-endemic region in the world. Experts felt that the huge population, poor healthcare services and other hurdles would make it impossible for India to eradicate the disease.

Annual occurrence and declining trend of polio in India

1970s – 80s – 2, 00,000 cases
1980s – 90s – 50,000 cases
1998 – 1998 cases
2006 – 676
2010 – 42
2011 - 1 

ccording to the WHO, India accounted for 40,000 polio cases in 1980s and even in 2002, only UP accounted for 2/3rd of the world’s polio cases. While polio was eradicated in the Americas by 1991, Europe by 1998 and by 2011 only 44 cases were reported worldwide, mostly in Pakistan, India hasn’t reported a new case since 2011.

 

 

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