WHO polio broke out in Syria

Ten cases of polio already confirmed

29/10/2013

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in the north of Syria, ten children under the age of two have been diagnosed with the so - called „poliovirus“ infected, the trigger of dangerous polio. According to the WHO, there is now the risk that the virus could spread quickly.

22 children under two years with suspected infection
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in the northeastern province of Deir al Sur in Syria, ten out of 22 children under the age of two with suspected poliovirus infection have already confirmed the disease. However, the results for the other twelve children are still pending, said the spokesman for the WHO's polio department, Oliver Rosenbauer. According to Rosenbaums all affected children have acute paralysis conditions, as they are typically caused by a „poliomyelitis“ (med. poliomyelitis, polio for short).

Infection takes place via smear infection
The affected children had presumably - like many others - so far received no vaccine against the infectious disease, more cases are according to Rosenbaum but not yet known. Nevertheless, there is a high risk of spread, because polio is a highly contagious disease, the infection usually over „contact infection“ or foul-smeared hands or objects as well as pathogens taken up indirectly via the digestive tract (especially contaminated drinking water).

No adequate vaccinations since the beginning of the civil war
So far, the disease in Syria has been regarded as exterminated since 1999, since according to the United Nations (UN) until the beginning of the civil war in 2011, 95 percent of children were considered vaccinated. But in the wake of the civil war, vaccinations - the only effective protection against polio - had not been carried out, which, according to the UN, would affect a total of half a million children.

Population movements by flight as another risk factor
For health professionals, too, the link between the cases that have become known and the civil war in Syria is obvious: since all affected children are under the age of two, this would be precisely the period in which children were no longer "inadequately vaccinated". The mass escape from the war is also an additional risk factor: „Of course, this is a communicable disease. Due to population movements, it can reach other areas. Therefore, the risk of spreading throughout the region is high, "WHO spokesman Rosenbauer told Reuters. „The next step will be to take a close look at the genetically isolated viruses and see where they came from. That should clarify the origin, "Rosenbauer continues.

Picture: Paul Sippel