24 Oct 2022
World Polio Day: ‘Vaccination is the key’ to keeping Australia polio-free
Australia hasn’t seen a case of wild poliovirus for many years, but that doesn’t mean we are out of the woods, according to Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Associate Professor Bruce Thorley, Head of the WHO Polio Regional Reference Laboratory at the Doherty Institute.
It’s been more than 50 years since Australia recorded its last case of locally acquired polio and until recently the virus had only been detected in a few countries, thanks largely to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which launched in 1988.
Earlier this year, the United States recorded its first case of polio since 2013 and alerts were issued in the UK and Israel after genetically-linked poliovirus was detected in wastewater, leading the World Health Organisation to reaffirm that the risk of international spread remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
Associate Professor Bruce Thorley said that World Polio Day serves as a reminder that immunisation against the virus is the best way to prevent it spreading.
“The key to a polio-free world is vaccination,” Professor Thorley said. “It is important that high rates of polio vaccination (more than 90 per cent) are maintained in all countries to stop transmission of wild poliovirus in the endemic countries and to protect the population of polio-free countries from importations of wild poliovirus or when travelling.”
Poliovirus is a highly infectious disease that invades the nervous system. While it can infect people of all ages, children are most susceptible, with 50 per cent of all cases affecting children under the age of three.
While most people infected with poliovirus are asymptomatic, less than one per cent of infections result in debilitating paralysis, such that any suspected polio case requires immediate investigation.
Polio vaccination prevents paralysis and reduces the amount of virus shed in faeces.
“There is still no cure for the disease, however the inactivated poliovirus vaccine can offer protection for life when administered in early childhood,” Professor Thorley said.
Last week, leaders at the World Health Summit pledged $4.1 billion to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s 2022-2026 Strategy to end polio globally by vaccinating 370 million children every year over the next five years and continuing its disease surveillance across 50 countries.
Follow this link to sign the 2022 Scientific Declaration on polio eradication.