Polio fights back as Nigeria records 44 new cases

onyebuchi-chukwu15 million children receive polio vaccine

NIGERIA has recorded 400 per cent increase in polio cases in one year, with 44 cases in 2011 compared to 11 cases by this time in 2010.

However, in the continuous onslaught against the scourge in the country, no fewer than 15 million children under the age of five have received the trivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (tOPV) during the Maternal and Newborn Child Health Week (MNCHW) held last week.

According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) latest report on Nigeria, “two cases of Wild Polio Virus (WPV) were reported last week, both in Kano State. The total number of cases for 2011 is now 44.

The most recent case had onset of paralysis on October 15, in Kumbotso district. The other case reported last week was in Gaya district – a district which had not previously reported a case of WPV this year.”

According to the GPEI report, “Immunisation Plus Day (IPDs) have just been completed in 12 high-risk districts, following the MNCHW held last week. During the MNCHW, which ran from November 14 to 19, infants under the age of one in the southern half of the country were offered tOPV. The IPDs, which began on November 20, covered the rest of the country, aiming to vaccinate more than 15 million children under five with tOPV.”

The GPEI report was confirmed to The Guardian by Director of Immunisation at the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Emmanuel Abanida.

Meanwhile, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official, Thomas Moran, last week, told the BBC: “A four-fold increase in polio has been reported in Nigeria, with the disease spreading to other countries. Forty-three cases were reported in Nigeria this year, compared to 11 last year.    Curbing the polio virus in Nigeria is key to eradicating the crippling disease in Africa.”

In 2003, northern Nigeria’s Muslim leaders opposed vaccinations, claiming they could cause infertility. Nigeria is one of four countries in the world – along with Pakistan, India and Afghanistan – where polio is still a major health risk.

Moran told the BBC the disease had also spread to neighbouring Niger, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire. “The success of polio eradication in Africa rests on Nigeria interrupting the virus,” he stressed.