A child being administered a polio vaccine at Basantapur

Nepal yesterday administered a nationwide polio immunization campaign. Many polio vaccine centers were setup for easy access of polio drops to the general public.

There are a few basic things that everyone should know about polio:

• Polio is a highly infectious viral disease through Poliomyelitis (polio).
• Polio mainly affects children under five years of age.
• Poliovirus is mainly passed through person-to-person contact.
• There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented through immunization.
• Until and unless polio is eradicated, the polio drop has to be given.

Poliomyelitis or simply “polio” is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. The virus is transmitted through contaminated food and water, and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system. Many infected people have no symptoms, but do excrete the virus in their faeces, hence transmitting infection to others.

Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent. Polio can only be prevented by immunization.

Who is most at risk of polio?

Polio mainly affects children under five years of age. However, immune and or partially immune adults and children can still be infected with poliovirus and carry the virus for long enough to take the virus from one country to another, infecting close contacts and contaminating sanitation systems. This could facilitate transmission especially in countries where sanitation systems are sub-standard.

A child being administered a polio vaccine

How can polio be prevented?

There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented through immunization. Polio vaccine, given multiple times, almost always protects a child for life. Full immunization will markedly reduce an individual’s risk of developing paralytic polio. Full immunization will protect most people, however individuals can still contract the disease due to the failure of some individuals to respond to the vaccine.

Though people from all corners of the globe has been fighting against the polio virus there has been cases which has let to few cases of polio cases in certain parts of the globe which includes Nepal as well. Reports say that there has been a few number of cases of polio in Nepal as well. So, Let us all work together and eradicate polio from the face of the earth.

More links on polio:

• WHO
• Wikipedia