Poliovirus spreads beyond Nigeria after vaccine uptake drops
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《英国医生杂志》
The poliovirus circulating in northern Nigeria has now infected people in seven neighbouring countries that were previously free of the disease, prompting grave concern among international health agencies.
The World Health Organization and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative have set themselves the target of halting transmission of the disease worldwide by next year. After a 15 year effort, there remain six countries where polio is still endemic桸igeria, India, Pakistan, Niger, Afghanistan, and Egypt.
Almost all cases are now restricted to hotspots in Pakistan, India, and Nigeria, and most concern is focused on the populous African nation because immunisation campaigns there have been suspended since August last year.
The suspension was imposed in the northern state of Kano after rumours began to spread suggesting that the vaccine caused infertility or transmitted HIV. The result was an increase in the number of new cases in Nigeria, and the appearance of cases with the virus linked to Nigerian strains in Benin (1 case), Burkina Faso (7), Cameroon (1), Chad (5), Ghana (8), and Togo (1).
A massive vaccination campaign sponsored by the global initiative was done late last year across west and central Africa, in an effort to build an immunity wall around Nigeria.
But last week, WHO confirmed that a case of paralytic polio had been identified in the Central African Republic, which had reported no cases since 2000. Like the other recent cases, the virus is linked to strains circulating in northern Nigeria.
"Since then, we haven抰 heard of any more reported cases," Oliver Rosenbauer, a Geneva based spokesman for the initiative told the BMJ.
Given the widening spread of the virus, it is "critical" that Nigeria immediately resumes its polio immunisation campaigns in the north, WHO said. The country is scheduled to begin a national campaign on 23 February and there has been no indication that Kano won抰 be participating, Mr Rosenbauer said.
In mid-January, Nigeria抯 national minister of health, Eyitayo Lambo, outlined the steps that his country will take to improve polio campaigns in the first half of 2004.
"We will work together as one (federal, state, and local governments; religious and traditional leaders; Christians and Muslims) to reach every child with the polio vaccine," he said at a meeting in Geneva.
"Nigeria is determined to break the chains of polio transmission for the sake of our children, our neighbours?children, and the children of the world."
Meanwhile, the global initiative is planning another broad round of immunisation campaigns in surrounding countries to protect children. Such efforts will probably need to be repeated while a pool of infected people remains in Nigeria, WHO said.(London Stephen Pincock)
The World Health Organization and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative have set themselves the target of halting transmission of the disease worldwide by next year. After a 15 year effort, there remain six countries where polio is still endemic桸igeria, India, Pakistan, Niger, Afghanistan, and Egypt.
Almost all cases are now restricted to hotspots in Pakistan, India, and Nigeria, and most concern is focused on the populous African nation because immunisation campaigns there have been suspended since August last year.
The suspension was imposed in the northern state of Kano after rumours began to spread suggesting that the vaccine caused infertility or transmitted HIV. The result was an increase in the number of new cases in Nigeria, and the appearance of cases with the virus linked to Nigerian strains in Benin (1 case), Burkina Faso (7), Cameroon (1), Chad (5), Ghana (8), and Togo (1).
A massive vaccination campaign sponsored by the global initiative was done late last year across west and central Africa, in an effort to build an immunity wall around Nigeria.
But last week, WHO confirmed that a case of paralytic polio had been identified in the Central African Republic, which had reported no cases since 2000. Like the other recent cases, the virus is linked to strains circulating in northern Nigeria.
"Since then, we haven抰 heard of any more reported cases," Oliver Rosenbauer, a Geneva based spokesman for the initiative told the BMJ.
Given the widening spread of the virus, it is "critical" that Nigeria immediately resumes its polio immunisation campaigns in the north, WHO said. The country is scheduled to begin a national campaign on 23 February and there has been no indication that Kano won抰 be participating, Mr Rosenbauer said.
In mid-January, Nigeria抯 national minister of health, Eyitayo Lambo, outlined the steps that his country will take to improve polio campaigns in the first half of 2004.
"We will work together as one (federal, state, and local governments; religious and traditional leaders; Christians and Muslims) to reach every child with the polio vaccine," he said at a meeting in Geneva.
"Nigeria is determined to break the chains of polio transmission for the sake of our children, our neighbours?children, and the children of the world."
Meanwhile, the global initiative is planning another broad round of immunisation campaigns in surrounding countries to protect children. Such efforts will probably need to be repeated while a pool of infected people remains in Nigeria, WHO said.(London Stephen Pincock)