Recently, the once-thought conquered polio virus raised its ugly head again in the world.  Polio is a highly infectious disease and affects mainly children under the age of five. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' January 27th announcement, there is reason for the renewed emphasis to continue to combat polio until it is completely eradicated.  The statistics, HHS points to, are: one in 200 polio cases leads to irreversible paralysis, and among those paralyzed, 5-10% die. 

In April 2010, a type 1 strain of the polio virus caused an outbreak in Tajikistan. There were also some cases in Russia.  In  November 2010, a large-scale immunization plan was being formalized to vaccinate approximately three million people during the year in the Democratic Republic of Congo and nearby Angola, where an outbreak also had occurred.  Between the years 2000 and 2005, there were also outbreaks of polio in the Philippines, Madagascar, China and Indonesia (Aylward 2006).

Since with polio there is always the risk of transmitting or importing the highly infectious disease to a country where it does not exist or was thought to be eradicated, even children in the U.S. can be in jeopardy unless the disease is completely eradicated. On January 27, the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (USCDC), and the Russian Ministry of Health and Social Development (MOHSD) entered into a partnership agreement to eradicate the disease wherever it occurs with their initial signing of the global protocol of intent to eradicate polio (PIEP).  The agreement to eradicate polio also has the support of international charity organizations, such as Rotary International, and will reach out to communities throughout the world.

Because polio is highly contagious and can move throughout communities and countries quickly--and throughout the world, it is important that it be eradicated and that even wild types of the virus are banished, as well.  This is a case of if one child is afflicted in the world, more may be also.  Currently, vaccines are not always available to countries with limited resources.  It is hoped that the renewed emphasis on eradicating the disease will encourage funding of research to develop more available and effective vaccines against all types of polio and that this disease will be eradicated in our and our children's lifetimes. ChildSafetyBlog.org supports this renewed commitment to eradicating polio worldwide.