The discovery of a case of polio in the United States and traces of the virus in sewage in the United Kingdom and Israel raise fears of a resurgence of this disease declared as eradicated on a large part of the planet. According to the information, the importance of vaccination in the fight once morest poliomyelitis, for which there is no cure, is becoming a concern.
Polio eradication seemed within reach. Then the hard law of public health reminded us: we must never relax our efforts, ”says Maël Bessaud. This poliovirus specialist at the Institut Pasteur keeps hammering out the same instruction: “Let’s get vaccinated and remain vigilant. In Western countries, polio seems distant, non-existent, but it is still there. »
At the end of July, a case of poliomyelitis in the United States, the first for nearly ten years, appeared as a booster shot. The affected man, aged 20 and residing in Rockland County, a suburb of New York, had gone to the hospital because of paralysis in the leg. The diagnosis came quickly. He was not vaccinated. Today, he still suffers from partial paralysis.
This highly contagious disease, caused by a virus that invades the nervous system and can cause permanent paralysis or even death, is nevertheless considered eradicated on most of the planet. Today, that number has dropped to 99%. “Incredible progress that we owe to the massive vaccination campaigns launched by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative,” says Maël Bessaud.
The virus continues to circulate endemic in only two countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan. Worldwide, 698 cases of poliomyelitis linked to vaccine-strain derivatives were detected worldwide in 2021, according to the WHO, in unvaccinated people alone.
For the majority of the population, vaccinated, there is little risk. But it grows as soon as we enter neighborhoods or within communities where the vaccination rate is low, ”notes the specialist. “It also shows the importance of keeping up to date with booster shots. In France, the first injection takes place at two months, then four and eleven months. It is then necessary to carry out reminders at 25, 45, 65 years and then every ten years.
