Mass polio vaccination campaigns in Burma and Sudan

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDFeb 23 2011

Burma

After a seven-month-old baby was diagnosed with polio, Myanmar is planning a mass polio vaccination said the United Nations Children’s Fund. UNICEF revealed that just one case is enough to trigger an “emergency response”, and health officials promptly vaccinated 10,000 children in the Mandalay region, central Myanmar, after the illness was first suspected in December 2010.

Ramesh Shrestha, UNICEF representative in Myanmar said, “This case of polio detected in December was very unfortunate as Myanmar was about to officially receive the polio-free status in December 2010.” The baby was diagnosed with a strain genetically mutated from the version contained in the oral polio vaccine. Two more suspected cases, one in the Mandalay area and another further south in Mon State, have tested negative, the UN agency said.

Polio virus in its weakened form is given in the vaccine and an immunized person transmits the weakened virus to others and in very rare cases the virus in the vaccine can mutate into a form that can paralyze, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Polio virus spreads via contaminated food and water. According to the WHO, one in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis, usually in the legs, while five to 10 percent of those paralyzed die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.

Shrestha said the cause of the new transmission was unclear but some children might have been missed during routine vaccination. A team from the WHO was already in the country to devise a strategy to stop the spread of the virus. At present the vaccination will target 3.4 million children in specific areas, or a national programme will aim to reach around seven million youths. Myanmar’s health ministry organized a campaign following a similar case in 2007 and immunized 6.7 million children.

Sudan

Southern Sudan has begun its first round of the 2011 Polio National Immunization Days and is expected to reach an estimated 3.1 million children. Thousands of vaccination teams will spread across Southern Sudan - a region the size of Eastern Europe - and administer two drops of the polio vaccine to all children under the age of five.

The campaign is coordinated by the Government of Southern Sudan’s Ministry of Health, WHO and UNICEF are designed to get rid of the polio virus which re-emerged in Southern Sudan back in April 2008. Since then, vaccination has been intensified and no new cases have been reported since June 2009. H.E. Dr Luka Monoja, Minister of Health in the Government of South Sudan said, “These campaigns will continue until Southern Sudan is declared polio-free and all children are safe from polio. The polio vaccine is safe and even sick children can be vaccinated.” Last year four successive rounds of the polio immunization were carried out with the last round conducted in December. Dr. Yasmin Haque, Director for UNICEF Southern Sudan Area Programme added, “Polio is a dangerous disease that cripples children and can kill. Until polio is completely eradicated, all children in Southern Sudan are at risk of life-long polio paralysis or death. I urge all communities and their leaders to ensure that all children under the age of five are immunized.”

Worldwide cases have decreased by over 99 percent from an estimated 350,000 in 1988, to 1,604 reported in 2009, as a result of the global effort to eradicate the disease.