Norma Erickson
Examiner
05/15/2010
There were 1,606 cases of polio caused by wild poliovirus in 2009, according to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report issued yesterday by the CDC. This number is down from the 1988 estimate of 350,000 polio cases. This reduction is indeed a remarkable accomplishment in the global health arena.
According to the same report, there were also 175 cases of “vacine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs)” detected in people with AVP (acute flaccid paralysis) in six countries. The countries with cases of “vaccine-derived polioviruses included Nigeria, Guinea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo and India.
These vaccine-derived poliovirus infections were detected through the Acute Flaccid Paralysis Surveillance system, monitored by the World Health Organization (WHO). This system is in place to measure the progress of the war to erradicate polio from the planet. It tracks all AFP cases in children under the age of 15, and any cases of AFP in older people where polio is suspected.
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