WHO's largest polio pathogen reservoir in Pakistan

WHO: Largest polio pathogen reservoir in Pakistan's Peshawar

01/19/2014

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pakistani city of Peshawar is the world's largest reservoir for the polio pathogen. About 90 percent of all cases in the country come from there.

90 percent of all cases from Peshawar
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pakistani city of Peshawar is the world's largest reservoir for the polio pathogen. About 90 percent of all nationwide cases came from the city in the northwest of the nation. In the past year, 91 cases from all over Pakistan were caused by Peshawar virus types, the organization said. And in neighboring Afghanistan, 12 out of 13 cases were the result of genetic testing. Peshawar is located near the border with Afghanistan and is the capital of the crisis province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Radical Islamic groups against vaccinations
The WHO has long been pushing for consistent multiple vaccination to eradicate the viral infectious disease, but in recent years, it has repeatedly come to deadly attacks on vaccination teams. For some radical Islamic groups, the precautionary measures are a Western conspiracy aimed at reducing among other things fertility among Muslims. Only at the end of December of last year, there was again an attack against a polio vaccine center on the outskirts of Peshawars.

Before all children between the ages of three and eight years affected
Polio (poliomyelitis) is an infectious disease caused by poliovirus, which affects the muscle-controlling nerve cells of the spinal cord and can lead to permanent paralysis or even death. Especially children between the ages of three and eight years and occasionally older people into adulthood are affected. After an incubation period of one to two weeks, there is a three-day illness with fever, sore throat, fatigue, often diarrhea and nausea and vomiting. In more than three-quarters of those affected, this so-called abortive poliomyelitis heals without consequences.

Many countries are considered polio-free
Although the polio pathogen was to be found worldwide with the exception of the polar regions, thanks to the consistent implementation of vaccination measures, the frequent occurrence of the disease had been reduced to a few areas. Only the three countries Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan have never been free from excitement. Many countries are considered polio-free, in Germany was the last infection in 1990. Experts warn, however, that travelers could lure the pathogen again. The announcement was pleasing a few days ago: polio officially defeated in India. The country has long been considered a global epicenter for polio, but efforts to fight viral infectious disease have yielded promising results. (Ad)