Polio in PNG: Health expert says 'no cause for panic' despite 'extremely low' childhood vaccination rates

RNZ News

21-05-2025

The World Health Organization says it has confirmed two polio infections in PNG.
Photo:
Supplied / UNICEF/PNG/Chamber
Papua New Guinea's government needs to focus on areas with very low vaccination coverage after the poliovirus was detected in the country, according to a population health academic.
Polio virus has been found in two healthy children in Lae during a routine screening, and
the World Health Organisation has declared an outbreak
.
The government's planned response includes at least two rounds of nationwide vaccination.
Curtin University's international health professor Dr Jaya Dantas told
Pacific Waves
childhood vaccination rate in PNG
sits at about 50 percent which she said is "extremely low".
"It should sit at anywhere between 85 to 94 percent for it to have herd immunity with those who are unvaccinated," she said.
She said it is important that the government focuses on areas where the coverage is very low.
"There are certain areas that have only eight to 10 percent coverage."
Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease mainly affecting children under five years of age but also can affect older age groups.
Most infected people have no symptoms but can transmit infection to others by excreting the virus in their faeces. It is estimated that one in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis.
Dr Dantas said it starts as a flu-like illness.
She said it is important for parents to be vigilant to symptoms like muscle pain or muscle stiffness or partial paralysis in their children, but one thing they need to know is that polio is preventable.
"One good thing about polio was it had been eradicated in most of the world, except for two countries - certain parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan that historically had conflict, and because of that, it was difficult to vaccinate children in those areas.
"But in other parts, there was no polio, but there's been a resurgence of polio since the end of covid or post covid."
She said the polio vaccine is given orally and is easy to give to children.
"Communities need to be committed and the government needs to be committed. And PNG's response has been swift now, but it's been reactive.
"You really need vaccination for all childhood illnesses to be intensified for all children under the age of five, to see that their vaccination is up to date."
Last Friday, PNG's National Department of Health said it was stepping up its response after the poliovirus was detected in wastewater samples and in the two healthy children in Lae.
"The detected virus is a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2). This rare form of the virus can emerge in under-immunised communities but is well understood and can be effectively controlled through vaccination."
Health Minister Elias Kapavore described the situation as "serious but manageable".
As of 14 May, the government activated its national Polio Preparedness and Immunisation Response Plan.
Dr Dantas said in populations that have low health literacy, there is low uptake of vaccination in many of the resource-poor countries or developing countries, PNG being one.
"Many a time, parents may not have access. They might be far away from health centres. There might not be mobile vaccination units going to the villages. There could be misinformation for religious reasons.
"Because it's children under five, childhood vaccination is dependent on parents allowing their children to be vaccinated. When that does not happen, then it's a problem. So there needs to be a really good immunization program in the country."
Dr Dantas said the polio outbreak in PNG is linked to the strain circulating in Indonesia.
"I know that Australia and New Zealand are already talking to PNG. I know that Indonesia is aware of this issue.
"There's no cause for panic, but it's really important to look at your border areas, to look at people mobility."