| Circulating vaccine-derived Poliovirus • The oral polio vaccine (OPV) contains an attenuated or weakened form of the virus, which activates an immune response in the body. • During this time, this vaccine virus is also excreted. On rare occasions, an excreted vaccine virus can continue to circulate for an extended period of time. • The longer it is allowed to survive, the more genetic changes it undergoes. • In very rare instances, the vaccine virus can genetically change into a form that can paralyse. This is what is known as a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV). |
- A case of vaccine-derived polio is suspected in a two-year-old child in the West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya.
- The two-year-old child was found to have symptoms of polio-myelitis more than a week ago. The child was diagnosed with acute flaccid paralysis.
- Vaccine-derived infection is an infection some people with low immunity acquire which is different from wild Polio virus.
- The World Health Organization declared India polio-free in 2014 after the last case of wild poliovirus in the country was reported in 2011.
| Poliomyelitis (Polio) • It is a highly infectious viral disease primarily affecting children under five. • It spreads mainly through the fecal-oral route or contaminated food and water, multiplying in the intestine and potentially invading the nervous system, causing paralysis. • In 1988, the World Health Assembly launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. • Of the three strains, type 2 was eradicated in 1999, and type 3 in 2020. As of 2022, wild poliovirus type 1 remains endemic in only two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan. |
Dig Deeper: Read about India’s efforts and initiatives for Polio Eradication.
