Latest news with #Poliovirus
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Polio virus detected in children without symptoms: What does it really mean?
On May 9, 2025, health officials in Papua New Guinea reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) that they found a type of poliovirus called circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 ( cVDPV2 ) in stool samples from two healthy kids in Lae City, Morobe Province. These samples were part of a routine check after an earlier environmental sample from April 4 showed traces of the virus. The kids didn't show any symptoms, but the virus was present in their systems. What is a vaccine-derived virus? The oral polio vaccine (OPV) contains a weakened version of the virus to help build immunity. In rare cases, especially in areas with low vaccination coverage, this weakened virus can circulate in the community and mutate over time. If it changes enough, it can cause illness just like the wild virus. That's what's referred to as vaccine-derived poliovirus. Why is this a threat? Even though the kids were healthy, the presence of cVDPV2 indicates that the virus is circulating in the community. This is concerning because Papua New Guinea has low vaccination rates, especially in certain provinces. For instance, in Morobe Province, the coverage for the third dose of the oral polio vaccine (OPV3) was just 44% in 2024. Low vaccination rates mean more people are susceptible to the virus, increasing the risk of an outbreak. Poliovirus can cause a wide range of symptoms from nothing at all to very serious illness. About 70% of people infected with poliovirus don't feel sick at all. They carry the virus but show no signs. Mild symptoms like fever, sore throat, headache, fatigue, nausea, stomach pain usually appear 3 to 7 days after exposure and go away on their own. In about 1 in 200 to 1 in 2,000 cases, the virus invades the nervous system, which can lead to Meningitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord lining), stiffness in the neck, back pain, and headaches and Paresthesia (pins and needles feeling in the legs or arms). Even after recovery, some develop post-polio syndrome decades later, with muscle weakness, fatigue and joint pain. About 70% of polio infections are completely asymptomatic. That means the person carries the virus and can spread it to others, but they don't feel sick at all. Around 24% of infected people get mild symptoms. This looks like the flu, fever, sore throat, fatigue, and maybe a headache or upset stomach. These cases usually go away in a few days and often go unnoticed. Even if someone has no symptoms, they can still shed the virus in their stool and spread it—especially in places with poor sanitation or low vaccine coverage. So in short: Most people who get polio don't know they have it—but they can still pass it on. That's what makes surveillance and vaccination super important. One step to a healthier you—join Times Health+ Yoga and feel the change
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Polio outbreak declared in Papua New Guinea, spurring preparation for vaccination campaign
Papua New Guinea is experiencing a polio outbreak that has infected at least two children, according to health authorities who called for an immediate vaccination campaign. The country of nearly 12 million people in Oceania launched a national response this week after detecting poliomyelitis, known also as polio, in two healthy children during routine screenings. Sewage testing confirmed the virus was circulating in Lae, its second-largest city. Polio is a highly infectious disease that mostly affects young children. In severe cases, it can cause lifelong paralysis or death. While it has mostly been stamped out globally, polio is still endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan and cases are occasionally reported elsewhere in the world. Papua New Guinea was declared polio-free in 2000, but it experienced an outbreak in 2018 that paralysed 26 people. Related Poliovirus has been detected in sewage in 3 European countries. What happens now? The situation now is 'serious but manageable,' health minister Elias Kapavore said in a statement. 'We've dealt with this before and know what works,' Kapavore added. There is no cure for polio, but it can be prevented with vaccination. In Papua New Guinea, however, many children remain vulnerable due to low immunisation rates, according to Dr Veera Mendonca, UNICEF's representative in the country. Related Poland urges polio vaccinations for children after the virus is detected in Warsaw sewage The United Nations agency called for a widespread vaccination effort and said it was working with the government to procure and distribute jabs. 'While the focus right now is on stopping this outbreak, we must take this opportunity to boost routine immunisation to 90 per cent and protect children long-term,' Mendonca said in a statement. UNICEF is also helping to boost the country's disease monitoring and raise awareness around the outbreak, she added.
Business Recorder
16-05-2025
- Health
- Business Recorder
Polio outbreak declared in Papua New Guinea
SYDNEY: A polio outbreak has been declared in Papua New Guinea, sparking concern about the disease's spread in a country with low vaccination rates, health officials said. Poliovirus, most often spread through sewage and contaminated water, is highly infectious and potentially fatal. It can cause deformities and paralysis and mainly affects children under five years old. The virus was detected in wastewater and environmental samples in the Pacific nation's capital Port Moresby and second largest city Lae, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. In subsequent testing, two children in Lae were found to have the poliovirus type 2 strain, according to the WHO representative in Papua New Guinea, Sevil Huseynova. The confirmation of community transmission in the children 'constitutes a polio outbreak', Huseynova said in briefing notes provided to AFP on Friday. The health agency 'expresses deep concern over the confirmed outbreak', she said. Polio virus detected in 22 environmental samples across Pakistan: NEOC Genetic testing showed the polio strain detected in Papua New Guinea was linked to one circulating in Indonesia. Papua New Guinea was certified as polio-free in 2000, but immunisation rates among children are low – less than 50 percent, according to the WHO. 'Polio is a highly infectious disease, and in communities with low polio immunisation rates, the virus quickly spreads from one person to another,' Huseynova said. Papua New Guinea Health Minister Elias Kapavore said the situation was 'serious but manageable'. 'We've dealt with this before and know what works,' he told reporters on Thursday. 'Vaccination is safe and effective, and we're acting quickly to keep children protected.'
Scientific American
16-05-2025
- Health
- Scientific American
See the Dramatic Consequences of Vaccination Rates Teetering on a ‘Knife's Edge'
Measles, rubella, polio and diphtheria—once ubiquitous, devastating and deeply feared—have been virtually eliminated from the U.S. for decades. Entire generations have barely encountered these diseases as high vaccination rates and intensive surveillance efforts have largely shielded the country from major outbreaks. But amid a major multistate measles outbreak that has grown to hundreds of cases, a recent study published in JAMA projects that even a slight dip in current U.S. childhood vaccination rates could reverse such historic gains, which could cause some of these maladies to come roaring back within 25 years—while just a slight increase in rates could effectively squelch of all four. 'We were quite surprised that we're right on that knife's edge,' says the study's lead author Mathew Kiang, an assistant professor of epidemiology and population health at Stanford University. 'A little bit more [vaccination coverage] and things could be totally fine; a little less and things are going to be quite bad.' On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization formally declare a disease eliminated when there is zero continuous transmission in a specific region for 12 months or more. The U.S. achieved this milestone for measles, a viral illness that can lead to splotchy rashes, pneumonia, organ failure and other dangerous complications, in 2000. Poliovirus, which can cause lifelong paralysis and death, was effectively eliminated from North and South America by 1994. The U.S. rid itself of viral rubella, known for causing miscarriages and severe birth defects, in 2004. And diphtheria, a highly fatal bacterial disease, was virtually eliminated after a vaccine was introduced in the 1940s. These are 'key infectious diseases that we've eliminated from the U.S. through widespread vaccination,' says study co-author Nathan Lo, a physician-scientist at Stanford University. Kiang, Lo and their colleagues ran multiple scenarios of childhood vaccination rates over 25 years to see if the four diseases would return to endemic levels (sustained transmission in which each infected person spreads the disease to at least one other person, on average, for a 12-month period). Measles—which is a very contagious disease and requires high population immunity to prevent spread—was the most susceptible to fluctuations in vaccination coverage. The models estimated that a 5 percent coverage decline would lead to an estimated 5.7 million measles cases over 25 years, while a 5 percent increase would result in only 5,800 cases. Polio and rubella would require sharper vaccination rate downturns (around 30 to 40 percent) before reaching comparable risks of reemergence. While projected diphtheria cases were notably lower, Lo notes that the illness has a relatively high fatality rate and can cause rapid deterioration: 'Patients with diphtheria get symptomatic and within a day or two can die.' Routine childhood immunization numbers have been slowly but steadily falling in recent years for several reasons, including missed appointments during the COVID pandemic and growing—often highly politicized—public resistance to vaccinations. 'The idea of reestablishment of measles is not outrageous and certainly in the moment where we're looking at erosion of trust through our federal authorities about vaccination,' says Matthew Ferrari, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics at Pennsylvania State University, who was not involved in the study. Reduced U.S. vaccination rates can also cause 'knock-on effects' that threaten disease eradication efforts around the world, Ferrari says. Additionally, recent funding cuts to international vaccine development programs such as USAID and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, will 'likely lead to increases in measles, rubella, diphtheria and polio elsewhere in the world,' he says. Outbreaks of these diseases in the U.S. largely start when unvaccinated American travelers pick one up while visiting a place where it's more common. 'If you now add the consequences of defunding vaccination around the world, then that's going to increase the likelihood of these cases coming to the United States,' Ferrari says, adding that the study authors may have made 'conservative assumptions' about these international factors. But Ferrari says the study's scenarios assumed immediate—and in some cases unrealistically high—vaccination rate drop-offs without accounting for other possible public health efforts to control disease. 'Even if we anticipated an erosion of vaccination in the United States, it probably wouldn't happen instantly,' Ferrari says. 'Detection and reactive vaccination weren't really discussed in the paper, nor was the population-level response—the behavior of parents and the medical establishment. That's something we can't possibly know.... From that perspective, I think the scenarios were enormously pessimistic.' Lo and Kiang argue that politically driven shifts in vaccine policy, such as reduced childhood vaccination requirements or a tougher authorization process for new vaccines, could make a 50 percent slump in vaccination rates less far-fetched. 'I think that there was a lot of pushback from very smart people that 50 percent was way too pessimistic, and I think that—historically—they would have been right,' Kiang says. 'I think in the current political climate and what we've seen, it's not clear to me that that is [still] true.' Kiang and Lo say that while their study shows the dangers of vast vaccine declines, it also highlights how small improvements can make a massive difference. 'There's also a more empowering side, which is that the small fractions of population that push us one way can also push us the other way,' Lo says. 'Someone might ask, 'What is my role in this?' But small percentages [of increased vaccination], we find, can really push us back into the safe territory where this alternate reality of measles reestablishing itself would not come to pass.'
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Polio outbreak declared in Papua New Guinea
Sydney: A polio outbreak has been declared in Papua New Guinea, sparking concern about the disease's spread in a country with low vaccination rates, health officials said. Poliovirus, most often spread through sewage and contaminated water, is highly infectious and potentially fatal. It can cause deformities and paralysis and mainly affects children under five years old. The virus was detected in wastewater and environmental samples in the Pacific nation's capital Port Moresby and second largest city Lae, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. In subsequent testing, two children in Lae were found to have the poliovirus type 2 strain, according to the WHO representative in Papua New Guinea, Sevil Huseynova. The confirmation of community transmission in the children "constitutes a polio outbreak", Huseynova said in briefing notes provided to AFP on Friday. The health agency "expresses deep concern over the confirmed outbreak", she said. Genetic testing showed the polio strain detected in Papua New Guinea was linked to one circulating in Indonesia. Papua New Guinea was certified as polio-free in 2000, but immunisation rates among children are low -- less than 50 percent, according to the WHO. "Polio is a highly infectious disease, and in communities with low polio immunisation rates, the virus quickly spreads from one person to another," Huseynova said. Papua New Guinea Health Minister Elias Kapavore said the situation was "serious but manageable". "We've dealt with this before and know what works," he told reporters on Thursday. "Vaccination is safe and effective, and we're acting quickly to keep children protected."
