Will Polio Make a Successful Comeback?

For people living in developed countries, Polio is a disease which is a distant memory thanks to Jonas Salk's vaccination which was introduced in 1955. The disease was almost completely eradicated by the turn of the twenty-first century except for a few small pockets on the African continent. Unfortunately, those pockets were not contained and a new outbreak of Polio began in Africa in 2005. At issue is the fact that the majority of African adults have never been exposed to the polio virus but have not been vaccinated either. With less-than-healthy water and other unsanitary living conditions, Africans in several regions are now at risk for contracting polio.

Namibia, in the south-west region of Africa, reported 19 confirmed cases and 150 suspected cases in 2006. Nigeria, in west-central Africa, reported 434 cases in 2005 and 785 cases in 2006. The numbers are equally grim in many other areas of Africa yet the news gets even more alarming: the polio outbreak has not been confined to that continent.

Southern Asia and the Arabian Peninsula are also now part of the equation. India saw a new outbreak beginning in 2005 with 35 confirmed cases; that number rose to 249 in 2006. Nepal, Bangladesh, and Yemen have likewise reported a dramatic increase in confirmed cases since 2006. With the increase in worldwide travel, some experts believe we may be on the verge of a new global outbreak of Polio.

Vaccination efforts have been ramped up accordingly, but in Africa doctors have also been studying vaccine-derived poliovirus which can cause the disease just as well as wild-type poliovirus. New medication has been developed to combat paralysis in victims who have contracted polio from a vaccination and it seems to be working. Since the main complication of polio is paralysis, these new drugs should help ease the fears of those who might be unwilling to be vaccinated.

While experts agree the spread of polio needs careful attention over the next several years, no one really knows where the disease will go next. Further study, the development of new drugs, increased vaccination efforts, and a concerted effort to sterilize food and water supplies should significantly reduce the threat of a worldwide pandemic. Yet the most important lesson learned since the start of the recent outbreak is that small pockets of remaining polio must not be neglected. The disease is extremely contagious and if allowed to exist, it will find a means to spread.

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