Why polio has not been eradicated

The length of poliovirus survival varies according to conditions like temperature, and the poliovirus infectivity decreases over time. People are the only reservoir Hundreds of diseases can be transmitted between insects, animals and humans. One of the things that makes polio eradicable is the fact that humans are the only reservoir.

No poliovirus has been found to exist and spread among animals despite repeated attempts to document this. Immunization with polio vaccine interrupts virus transmission Not only are there two safe and effective polio vaccines, but vaccination against polio generates herd immunity, which increases the percentage of the population that is immune to the disease. Mass campaigns using oral polio vaccine, where all children in a specified geographic area are immunized simultaneously, interrupts wild poliovirus circulation by boosting population immunity to the point that transmission of polio cannot be sustained.

But what truly drives our conviction in numbers results. There are now only 3 countries that have never stopped polio transmission. This marathon of a public health endeavour is in the last mile. Who we are Our Mission. History of Polio. Endemic Countries Afghanistan Pakistan. News 29 OCT Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily. Advanced search. Skip to main content Thank you for visiting nature. You have full access to this article via your institution.

Download PDF. Source: WHO. Close banner Close. Once polio is eradicated, about billion dollars can be saved globally. With the strong commitment, seriousness and good initiatives, polio will be eradicated from Pakistan within two years more likely. Keywords: Aprevalence; Poliomyelitis; risk factors; strategies.

Pakistan and Afghanistan were the only two countries still battling the disease. The United States has been rid of polio since , while India and 10 Asian countries only fairly recently achieved the status in Citizens of countries were contending with the threat as of and , people suffered from the disease. But thanks to vaccination campaigns that immunized more than 2. The overall number of polio cases, in fact, has dropped by a staggering 99 percent. Yet polio eradication depends on vaccination and in some war-torn or remote, underserved areas, finding, reaching, and administering the vaccine is nearly impossible.

The vaccine must be given several times requiring vaccinators to visit more than four times each year. Exhibit A: Nigeria.