{"id":12491,"date":"2024-09-07T09:02:17","date_gmt":"2024-09-07T09:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=12491"},"modified":"2024-09-07T09:23:10","modified_gmt":"2024-09-07T09:23:10","slug":"the-pivotal-decision-that-led-to-a-resurgence-of-polio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=12491","title":{"rendered":"The Pivotal Decision That Led to a Resurgence of Polio"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

In 2016, the global health authorities removed a type of poliovirus from the oral vaccine. The virus caused a growing number of outbreaks and has now arrived in Gaza.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

The poliovirus that paralyzed a child in Gaza, the first case in the region in 25 years, has traveled a long path.<\/p>\n

It most likely arose in Nigeria and made its way to Chad, where it was first detected in 2019, according to genetic analysis. It emerged in Sudan in 2020 and then found a foothold in Egypt, in unvaccinated pockets of Luxor and North Sinai \u2014 next door to Gaza.<\/p>\n

This journey was the consequence of a fateful decision by global health organizations to pare down the oral polio vaccine in 2016. The move, now called \u201cthe switch,\u201d was intended to help eradicate the disease.<\/p>\n

Instead, the change has led to outbreaks of polio in dozens of countries and has paralyzed more than 3,300 children. A formal evaluation, commissioned by the global polio eradication program and led by two independent experts, was unflinching in its assessment: \u201cThe switch was an unqualified failure.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
\n

One consequence now is the furious scramble to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of children in a decimated conflict zone, just the sort of environment in which polio thrives. It\u2019s not yet clear whether the virus can be contained in Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
Health workers carry polio vaccines during a campaign in central Gaza. So far, the workers have succeeded in immunizing many more children than expected. <\/span>Eyad Baba\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n

Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2016, the global health authorities removed a type of poliovirus from the oral vaccine. The virus caused a growing number of outbreaks and has now arrived in Gaza.The poliovirus that paralyzed a child in Gaza, the first case in the region in 25 years, has traveled a long path.It most likely arose in Nigeria and made its way to Chad, where it was first detected in 2019, according to genetic analysis. It emerged in Sudan in 2020 and then found a foothold in Egypt, in unvaccinated pockets of Luxor and North Sinai \u2014 next door to Gaza.This journey was the consequence of a fateful decision by global health organizations to pare down the oral polio vaccine in 2016. The move, now called \u201cthe switch,\u201d was intended to help eradicate the disease.Instead, the change has led to outbreaks of polio in dozens of countries and has paralyzed more than 3,300 children. A formal evaluation, commissioned by the global polio eradication program and led by two independent experts, was unflinching in its assessment: \u201cThe switch was an unqualified failure.\u201dOne consequence now is the furious scramble to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of children in a decimated conflict zone, just the sort of environment in which polio thrives. It\u2019s not yet clear whether the virus can be contained in Gaza.Health workers carry polio vaccines during a campaign in central Gaza. So far, the workers have succeeded in immunizing many more children than expected. Eyad Baba\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty ImagesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12493,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12491"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12494,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12491\/revisions\/12494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}