Polio Makes A Deadly Come Back In Gaza (image @easternvoices)
After 25 years of absence, polio has re-emerged in Gaza Strip prompting the united Nations and local health officials to initiate an emergency vaccination campaign in the war-torn Palestinian territory, which has been under the raging war for the past 11 months.
To stop polio from spreading, about 640,000 children under 10 will get vaccine drops, when fighting pauses for limited time period. But aid workers say Israel’s damage to Gaza’s water and sewage systems is helping the disease spread making it harder to control.
The recent campaign in central Gaza has been a rare success story amidst nearly 11 months of war. So far, the campaign has reached 189,000 children, said UNICEF.
Polio, a disease that can cause lifelong paralysis, was almost gone from the planet. But now, it’s making a comeback in some parts of the world putting young children at risk.
What is happening in Gaza?
A 10-month-old baby in Gaza got partially paralyzed with polio. This is the first case of polio in Gaza since last 25 years.
When a weakened virus from oral polio vaccines spread and mutate, it can cause polio. This usually happens over a year or more after vaccination. The people most at risk are those who didn’t get vaccinated, didn’t finish their vaccinations, or didn’t respond to the vaccine.
Health experts and campaigners accused Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s health and sanitation systems is to blame for the polio outbreak. The UN health agency had warned that poliovirus was found in Gaza’s wastewater weeks before the first polio case was detected.
Despite ongoing fighting in Gaza, a vaccination campaign is pressing on. The Gaza health ministry reported that 42 people were killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll since the start of the war to 40,861.
“If the Israeli government continues to block urgent aid and destroy water and waste management infrastructure, it will facilitate the spread of a disease that has been nearly eradicated globally,” said Julia Bleckner, senior health and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, as quoted by Al Jazeera.
What is polio?
Polio is a very contagious disease that mainly affects young children. It can cause permanent paralysis in their arms and legs.
There are three types of polio: type 1, type 2, and type 3. The good news is that type 2 and type 3 have been completely eliminated, with type 2 gone since 2015 and type 3 gone since 2019. type 1 is still a threat, especially to young children. There is no cure for polio. But, you can prevent it by getting vaccinated. Vaccines are given either orally or through an injection.
Which countries still have polio ?
Polio vaccines have been highly effective in wiping out the disease but Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio still remains a problem.
Polio has been eradicated in 122 countries since 1988. However, as of July this year, Pakistan has seen 16 cases of poliovirus and Afghanistan has reported 14 cases
(Nazwin Basheer has produced this article as part of a Timeline Internship Programme)
