Polio News and Research

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Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that invades the nervous system and can cause severe paralysis. The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Among those paralyzed, 5-10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized. Polio mainly affects children under five years of age. Naturally occurring polio was eliminated in the U.S. in 1979 and in the Western Hemisphere by 1991; however, worldwide efforts are continuing towards eradication of this contagious and devastating disease.

Pakistan official says progress made in vaccinating thousands of children against polio in tribal area

"Pakistan Tuesday claimed progress in vaccinating thousands of children against polio in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan which had been inaccessible due to unrest for about three years," Agence France-Presse reports.

6 Sep 2012

VOA examines global polio eradication efforts

VOA News reports on global efforts to eradicate polio, writing, "Experts say with India now polio-free and the total number of cases at the lowest level ever, this is an opportunity to change history and eradicate the disease entirely."

5 Sep 2012

Challenges to eradicating polio in Nigeria

John Campbell, Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes in his "Africa in Transition" blog that "[t]he Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) reports eight new polio cases in Nigeria, bringing the total in that country to 70 for 2012," with most of the cases occurring in the predominantly Muslim north.

1 Sep 2012

Ambassador Rice lauds India's role in fighting polio, ensuring child survival

U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice on Tuesday spoke at a reception at the U.S. Embassy in India meant "to highlight the Call to Action initiative against child mortality," Zee News reports.

30 Aug 2012

Bill Gates reflects on Angola's success against polio

In this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Bill Gates, co-chair of the foundation, reflects on Angola's success against polio, writing, "Angola marked a full year without a new case of polio" this month, an accomplishment that serves as "the latest evidence that we are extremely close to ending polio forever."

29 Aug 2012

NYU-Poly creates ultra-sensitive biosensor to identify small single virus particles

Researchers at Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) have created an ultra-sensitive biosensor capable of identifying the smallest single virus particles in solution, an advance that may revolutionize early disease detection in a point-of-care setting and shrink test result wait times from weeks to minutes.

29 Aug 2012

Taliban undermining efforts to control polio in Pakistan

"It seems public health is the latest casualty of Pakistan's fight against homegrown militants and extremist groups," Huma Yusuf, a columnist for the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, writes in this post in the New York Times' "Latitude" blog, highlighting a recent ban on polio immunization campaigns by the Taliban.

28 Aug 2012

Researchers create super-sensor that can detect even single samples of viruses

By affixing nanoscale gold spheres onto a microscopic bead of glass, researchers have created a super-sensor that can detect even single samples of the smallest known viruses. The sensor uses a peculiar behavior of light known as "whispering gallery mode," named after the famous circular gallery in St. Paul's Cathedral in London, where a whisper near the wall can be heard around the gallery.

24 Aug 2012

Franchise clinics improve healthcare access for children in developing world

Franchise health clinics could substantially increase access to essential vaccinations and treatments among children living in low-income countries, regardless of their household income status, report researchers.

17 Aug 2012

CSIS report examines global polio eradication efforts

The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) on Monday released a report called "Eradicating Polio in Afghanistan and Pakistan." According to the report summary, efforts to eradicate the virus globally "have proved largely successful, in part thanks to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), launched by the international community in 1988," and "[t]he number of new cases has dropped in the past decade, even in countries where the virus has never been eradicated."

15 Aug 2012

Medical ethics: an interview with Anita Silvers

Medical ethics assists healthcare professionals to make decisions respectful of persons who happen to be their patients.

13 Aug 2012

Melinda Gates dedicates Tällberg Foundation prize money to Rotary International

"The global effort to eradicate polio received a SEK 1 million [about $150,000] boost today as Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, dedicated the monetary award she accepted from the Tällberg Foundation to Rotary International -- a humanitarian service organization that has made a polio-free world its top priority," according to a Gates Foundation press release.

8 Aug 2012

Science, Lancet articles examine efforts to eradicate polio

In a series of "News Focus" articles in Science, the magazine examines the global effort to eradicate polio. One article examines the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) -- a partnership of the WHO, Rotary International, UNICEF, the CDC, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -- and recent reports on the program by an Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), "an oversight body" that provides feedback and guidance.

3 Aug 2012

Possible molecular link between circadian rhythm disturbances and increased inflammatory response

Scientists have known for some time that throwing off the body's circadian rhythm can negatively affect body chemistry. In fact, workers whose sleep-wake cycles are disrupted by night shifts are more susceptible to chronic inflammatory diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cancer.

2 Aug 2012

HIV would 'remain a threat' even if world achieved 'AIDS-free generation' by any definition

Lawrence Altman, former senior medical correspondent for the New York Times, writes in an opinion analysis in the newspaper that while there was much discussion about "ending the AIDS epidemic" and an "AIDS-free generation" at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) last week in Washington, D.C., "[o]ne obstacle is a failure to clearly define the epidemic or what it means to have an AIDS-free generation."

1 Aug 2012

CNN examines progress, challenges in global polio eradication efforts

"Health efforts are close to wiping out polio, but two significant challenges remain: money and the operational logistics of getting the vaccine to people who need it," CNN writes in an article examining "how far we've come with polio and what's left to be done."

30 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: 'No Cash, No Insurance, No Live'; Medicaid expansion is a good option; Eradicating polio

With all the talk about health care recently, I'm surprised that no one has challenged the crazy idea that hospitals should treat people who can't pay. This is a free market nation, dammit! The home of "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Dice" in store windows should have "No Cash, No Insurance, No Live" on our hospital doors.

26 Jul 2012

Community worker assisting with polio campaign in Pakistan shot, killed

In a statement on Saturday, the World Health Organization and UNICEF said "a local community worker who helped an anti-polio campaign in Pakistan has been shot and killed in Karachi -- days after two of its staff were injured in a shooting in the city," the Associated Press reports.

24 Jul 2012

Blog examines potential repercussions of CIA's fake vaccination campaign in Pakistan

In this post on her blog, "The Garrett Update," Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), examines the potential implications of a fake hepatitis vaccine campaign carried out by the CIA in Pakistan last year in an attempt to gather DNA from Osama bin Laden's family.

19 Jul 2012

Two polio campaign workers shot, wounded in Pakistan; WHO says no sign attack was deliberate

"Gunmen in Pakistan shot and wounded a staff member of the World Health Organization (WHO) and an expatriate consultant working for the United Nations health agency on Tuesday, the WHO said," Reuters reports.

19 Jul 2012