2023-10-24 23:00:28
In 1955, Dr. Jonas E. Salk developed the first vaccine against this disabling disease.
Thanks to global vaccination campaigns, polio cases reported worldwide have been reduced by 99%.
Every October 24th, World Polio Day is commemorated.
They constantly appear new diseases in the world but there are also others like polio that are about to be eradicated. In part, thanks to vaccination campaigns, an exponential decrease has been achieved to reach the lowest levels since official records exist.
First case of polio in the world
Based on the medical literature, the The first case of this disabling and life-threatening disease was identified in 1905. It is caused by the poliovirus or poliovirus. It is transmitted from one person to another and can infect the spinal cord, causing paralysis.
With the development of the vaccine and the tireless immunization efforts supported by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in 1994 the Region of the Americas became the first in the world to be certified polio-free by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Main symptoms of polio
The initial symptoms of this disease are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, neck stiffness, and pain in extremities. It is estimated that one in every 200 infections causes irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs) and, among those paralyzed, between 5% and 10% die when their respiratory muscles become immobilized.
The situation changed in 1955 when the Dr. Jonas E. Salk developed the first vaccine against this disease. Before this invention, polio was the main cause of childhood disability in the world.
With the development of the vaccine and immunization efforts supported by PAHO, in 1994 the Region of the Americas became the first in the world to be certified polio-free by the WHO.
After years of hard fighting against the disease and its spread, the WHO declared Africa “polio-free” in 2020. The last case of wild poliovirus in the region occurred in Nigeria in 2016.
It is caused by the poliovirus and is considered a highly infectious disease. It is classified into types 1, 2 and 3 although there are currently only two countries in which type 1 remains endemic: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Now, according to what was published by Statesman, there is very little left to end polio in the world. It is currently a disease that remains endemic in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In addition, a small number of imported cases have been detected in Africa in 2021 and 2022.
Despite the above, cases of wild poliovirus infection have decreased by more than 99% since 1988. At that time it was estimated that there were 350,000 cases in more than 125 endemic countries. While for 2022 only 29 were notified globally.
Also read:
Polio in Mexico: 32 years have passed without registered cases
New York declares state of emergency due to polio reappearance
Polio cases in the world recorded during the last 20 years
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