By Yawar Abbas
ISLAMABAD, Oct 24 (APP): Health experts have emphasized the critical importance of Polio vaccination in safeguarding children from harmful virus that can lead to severe illness or lifelong disabilities.
“Once the virus has entered the body, usually through the mouth, it multiplies in the throat and intestines, and can also enter the bloodstream and spread to the nervous system,” medical practitioners cautioned on the occasion of World Polio Day which is observed every year on October 24.
Senior medical expert, Dr Farhat Naeem said that Poliomyelitis, or polio is a highly infectious viral disease. The virus, which mainly affects children under five, attacks the brain and spinal cord and can cause total paralysis within days of infection.
“There are three poliovirus serotypes, Type 1, 2 and 3 all of which have identical symptoms, for which there is no cure.” The virus is transmitted person-to-person mainly through the faecal-oral route, or less frequently through a common vehicle for example food or water that is contaminated with the virus, he added.
He said although children are more likely to catch polio, adults – who often carry the virus without displaying symptoms – help to spread it. Environmental factors including poor sanitation can also help spread the virus.
Dr Lateef Baig, a medical expert said, in the majority of people the virus infects do not show any signs of infection, though some experience symptoms, which include sudden onset of fever, tiredness, headache, vomiting, stiffness of the neck, aching muscles and pain in the limbs.
In a smaller number of cases, the virus invades the central nervous system, causing paralysis, usually in the legs and sometimes in the arms. For many, this is only temporary, and the sufferer regains movement over time, usually within weeks or months. For others, however, the paralysis—known as acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) – is irreversible, he added.
He said that in rare cases this results in death when the breathing muscles become immobilized. Around one in 200 suffer permanent paralysis, and five to ten percent among those paralyzed die.
He said that for the majority who survive there can still be life-long complications. Sufferers may have permanent deformities, such as twisted legs or feet, weakness or shrinking of the muscles, or tight joints.
Marking the occasion, Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication, Ayesha Raza Farooq, reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering commitment to completely eliminate the disease from the country.
“Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, our national commitment to end polio has become even stronger,” she said in her message on World Polio Day. “More than 400,000 frontline heroes go door-to-door in every campaign to ensure that every child is protected. Their courage and dedication are the true driving force behind Pakistan’s fight against polio.”
Ayesha Raza Farooq expressed gratitude to parents, caregivers, community leaders, and the media for their continued trust and cooperation, which have helped transform Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts into a national movement.
“Eliminating polio guarantees a safe and healthy future for every child,” she said. “We must continue our efforts with unity and determination until Pakistan is completely polio-free.”
She added that World Polio Day serves as a reminder of Pakistan’s collective promise to protect future generations from the crippling effects of polio and to achieve the ultimate goal of a polio-free Pakistan.
The development of vaccines for polio was one of the major breakthroughs of the twentieth century. The first effective injectable polio vaccine was produced in Pittsburgh in 1955 by Dr Jonas Salk, following which the United States launched the first mass immunization campaigns. An oral vaccine, developed by Dr Albert Sabin came onto the market in 1961. With these two life-saving innovations, eradication became possible.
There are two types of vaccines used to stop the spread of polio. The inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), which is injected, contains deactivated viruses and creates antibodies in the blood.
The oral polio vaccine (OPV) contains the weakened live virus and creates antibodies in the gut rather than the blood. Given in two doses during routine immunization and three doses during supplementary immunization activities delivered up to a month apart, OPV provides lifelong immunity to polio.
“Even if the vaccinated person consumes food or water contaminated with polio virus in the few weeks after it is administered, the vaccine antibodies in the gut fight the wild poliovirus when it enters through digestion. This means that the OPV not only protects the individual child, but also offers more protection to the community than the IPV, “said Dr Arif Saleem, a health expert.
He said the day serves as an opportunity to underscore the progress made through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) — a partnership of global organizations, governments, and communities striving to end polio and the suffering caused by this devastating virus.