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.

Scientists discover new way to convert cord blood cells into iNC

For more than 20 years, doctors have been using cells from blood that remains in the placenta and umbilical cord after childbirth to treat a variety of illnesses, from cancer and immune disorders to blood and metabolic diseases.

17 Jul 2012

Pakistan polio immunization campaign might not reach 240,000 children because of militant leaders' bans on vaccine

A national polio vaccination campaign set to begin this week in Pakistan might not reach 240,000 children in the northwest because of a Taliban ban on the inoculations, Agence France-Presse reports. Local militant leaders "have banned polio vaccinations in the northwestern tribal region of Waziristan to protest against U.S. drone attacks" and "have condemned the immunization campaign, which is slated to begin on Monday, as a cover for espionage," the news agency writes.

17 Jul 2012

Polio eradication: an interview with Dr. Kathleen O’Reilly

Polio is a disease caused by a virus and results in paralysis, usually in the legs, of those affected. The paralysis is irreversible. In some extreme cases the virus spreads to the nerve cells of the brain reducing breathing capacity and this rarer form can be fatal.

16 Jul 2012

Johns Hopkins doctoral program graduate explores ways to control infectious diseases

Her passport is stamped with exotic locations: Myanmar, Tibet, South Africa, Vietnam, and Cambodia, as well as Baltimore, MD. But, when Carrie Tudor, PhD, MPH, RN, looks at it, she sees global battlefields in the fight against infectious disease. Her weapons: immunizations, programs to curb tuberculosis and HIV transmission, and a drive to carry on a rich tradition of public health nursing research.

16 Jul 2012

College-age children also need immunizations, says UMDNJ professor

Most parents take their young children regularly for immunization shots that protect against polio, diphtheria, measles, mumps and other diseases. But many do not consider that their college-age children also need immunizations.

14 Jul 2012

MedStar NRH, Georgetown University create new Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery

Georgetown University and MedStar National Rehabilitation Network announced today a new research and patient care partnership that extends the boundaries of neuroscience. The new Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery marks the launch of a rare research continuum spanning basic and translational science in brain recovery.

14 Jul 2012

New York Times examines how CIA's decision to use vaccination team affecting polio eradication efforts

The New York Times examines how the CIA's 2011 decision to use a vaccination team to collect DNA samples and information from residents of Osama bin Laden's compound damaged efforts to vaccinate children for polio in Pakistan.

12 Jul 2012

Fatal outcome from HFMD is rare, says LUHS pediatric infectious disease specialist

A mysterious disease that has killed nearly 60 children in Cambodia has been identified by the World Health Organization as enterovirus 71. This virus is one among a family of viruses that cause a variety of illnesses, including a common childhood illness called hand, foot and mouth disease, but Andrew Bonwit, MD, pediatric infectious disease specialist at Loyola University Health System, says a fatal outcome from such illness is rare.

11 Jul 2012

Poor vaccine uptake blamed for polio rise in Pakistan, Afghanistan

The number of cases of poliomyelitis per year in Pakistan and Afghanistan has more than doubled since 2006 despite improvements in available vaccine efficacy, show study findings in The Lancet.

10 Jul 2012

Polio elimination hindered by unvaccinated children in Pakistan and Afghanistan

Too few children have received sufficient doses of vaccine to wipe out polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan, two of only three countries in the world where endemic polio has yet to be eliminated, according to new research published Online First in The Lancet. The findings suggest that the newly introduced bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) has the potential to eliminate polio in these countries if sufficient numbers of children could be reached by vaccination programmes.

4 Jul 2012

July issue of WHO Bulletin available online

The July issue of the WHO Bulletin features an editorial on meeting the challenges of women's health beyond reproduction;

2 Jul 2012

World must work together to take advantage of 'unique opportunity' to end polio

"Ten years after Europe was declared polio-free, the world stands tantalizingly close to eradicating the disease for good," but "the world's chances of achieving this once unthinkable goal of ending polio are being jeopardized by a funding gap of $945 million," Sir Liam Donaldson, chair of the Independent Monitoring Board of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, writes in this EurActiv.com opinion piece.

28 Jun 2012

Senior Taliban commander bans polio vaccination efforts in Southern region of Pakistan

"A senior Taliban commander has effectively banned polio eradication in one of the most troubled areas of the Pakistan frontier in an effort to force the U.S. to end drone strikes," the Guardian reports. "Leaflets distributed in South Waziristan on behalf of Mullah Nazir, the leader of the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies (Fata), accused health workers who administer anti-polio drops of being U.S. spies" and "questioned the sincerity of international efforts to tackle the highly infectious disease," the newspaper adds.

28 Jun 2012

Vaccine for nicotine addiction developed

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have developed and successfully tested in mice an innovative vaccine to treat nicotine addiction.

28 Jun 2012

Survey of home healthcare practices related to infection control

A healthy boy was infected with antibiotic-resistant bacterium that was traced to his mother's nurse's bag left in the family's car after his mother's home healthcare visit to a patient with the same infection. Although the boy's infection and the patient's infection were never DNA tested, the coincidence was remarkable.

26 Jun 2012

Oxytocin hormone plays an important role in Williams syndrome

The hormone oxytocin - often referred to as the "trust" hormone or "love hormone" for its role in stimulating emotional responses - plays an important role in Williams syndrome (WS), according to a study published June 12, 2012, in PLoS One.

23 Jun 2012

Violence is a disease that has to be treated

The Windy City is now The Wounded City, thanks to a spate of carnage that has Chicago ranked tops nationally in violence for several weeks in a row. Violent crime costs Chicago about $5.3 billion a year, according to a new report from the Center for American Progress. Homicides have risen about 35 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

22 Jun 2012

Polio eradication efforts threatened by funding shortfall, vaccination resistance in some countries, experts say

Marking the 10th anniversary since Europe was declared polio-free, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative on Wednesday released a report saying there is "a unique window of opportunity to stamp out polio for good," with the number of reported cases at historical lows, but a funding shortfall of about $1 million is threatening eradication progress, Reuters reports.

22 Jun 2012

India emerging as model for improvement in developing countries

In this NDTV opinion piece, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reflects on his recent trip to India, writing, "During my recent visit, I had a chance to see the latest progress on things that matter a lot to us: on eradicating polio and curtailing the spread of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, for example."

21 Jun 2012

Zimbabwe launches week-long immunization campaign with funding from Japan

"Zimbabwe embarked on a massive immunization campaign against measles and polio on Monday, targeting about two million children under the age of five," VOA News reports.

20 Jun 2012