- The goal of eradicating wild-type poliovirus type-1 (WPV1) by 2026 has become tougher due to a resurgence in Pakistan and Afghanistan since 2023.
- Despite a seeming decrease, with six cases in Afghanistan and five in Pakistan already in 2024 is an increasing trend.
- The total number of cases for 2024 might surpass 2022.
- Environmental Samples: The circulation of WPV1 in the environment is rising. Positive environmental samples in Pakistan have increased, especially from cities known as historical reservoirs for the virus. Rising positive samples indicate polio campaigns are not achieving full coverage.
- While children in Pakistani cities are largely immunized, unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated children are at heightened risk, with two of the six 2023 cases from Karachi.
- There is a grave risk of international spread from Pakistan to Afghanistan, especially with over 0.5 million Afghan refugees forced to leave Pakistan and an estimated 0.8 million more to be evicted.
Polio Free India
- India has been Polio free since 2011.
- There are three types of wild polioviruses – type 1, type 2 and type 3,
- while bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine contains two types of poliovirus vaccines (P1 and P3) and protects against type 1 and type 3 wild polioviruses.
- Type 2 component from the oral polio vaccine was removed as a part of the global polio end-game strategy.
- In India, the last Type 2 wild polio virus case was detected in the year 1999.
- As a part of efforts to maintain high immunity against all polioviruses, India provides inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) and bOPV to all infants across the country under routine immunization
Dig Deeper: Read about the types of vaccine provided under India’s Pulse Polio Immunisation.
