SCIENTISTS say they have taken a “huge step” towards eradicating polio as they urged countries to stop vaccinating children against one of the three strains of the devastating virus.
There is no cure for polio, which attacks the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours of infection. Currently, the primary tool against the disease is an oral vaccine, which zaps all three types of polio.
However, a group of experts are recommending switching to a vaccine that only targets types 1 and 3, between April 17 and May 1, 2016. They said that type 2 has not been detected since 1999 and use of the vaccine itself can occasionally, inadvertently, aid the spread of the disease by allowing those who have been vaccinated to excrete the virus, putting those who have not received it at risk of catching polio.
Jon Abramson, chairman of the group, said: “This week a momentous decision was made. And the decision was to go ahead and make the switch because we think we can eradicate polio. This is a huge step towards that.”
Mr Abramson said the world has only once managed to eliminate a disease, which was smallpox, but now was the time “to pull the trigger and go for polio eradication”.
“We want to stop that small number of type 2 that occurs in outbreaks,” said Mr Abramson. “When we’re not giving type 2 (vaccinations) you’re not going to see those outbreaks.”
Some areas with low vaccine coverage, such as Laos, Ukraine, Madagascar and Guinea, have seen such cases.
Hamid Jafari, director of polio eradication at the World Health Organisation, said the eventual goal was to phase out the type 1 and type 3 vaccines as well and to switch globally to “inactivated” vaccines.
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