This morning we heard from Hugh regarding the progress being made to eradicate polio around the world.
Hugh let us know that between January 1 and March 5 this year there have been no new cases of the wild polio virus anywhere in the world. How fantastic is that. However he did also let us know that in countries where vaccination is low then a new strain called 'circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) has been emerging.
This means that the original strain of the virus has changed somewhat at the vaccine that has been used is no longer as effective. So work has been done to create a new vaccination called "Novel Oral Polio Vaccination Type 2" which has been used in more recent times to administer to those being vaccinated. It is leading to a reduction in cases of the circulating vaccine derived polio.
This goes to show that you can never be complacent as the wild polio strain could genetically change again forcing us to continue the fight long into the future. It is most likely to spread in communities that are not fully vaccinated against polio; especially in areas where poor hygiene, poor sanitation or overcrowding is evident. A population that is fully immunised will be protected against the change and spread of this virus.
Keep up the great work Rotary International. Thanks Hugh for providing that update for us.