Polio and Vaccination

Polio is a disease that can be life threatening and is a major cause of worldwide mortality and morbidity due to the poliovirus. There have been major efforts to eradicate polio globally because there are currently two vaccines that work to prevent the contraction of the disease. An article from the Journal of Infectious Diseases explained that there two vaccines are the IPV and the OPV vaccine. The OPV vaccine is administered orally and is a live attenuated vaccine that provides more local protection and proliferates in the intestines. The OPV has a major drawback in that a minimum of 6 doses are required in order to have immunity and that it has more of a chance of mutation once inside the recipient. This can sometimes lead to contraction of polio in a very few number of recipients of the vaccine. In Hispaniola about 20 years ago, a polio outbreak began from a vaccine derived poliovirus (VDPV).

The other vaccination is the IPV (inactivated polio vaccine) according to an article from the journal of infectious diseases. This vaccination is used in addition to the OPV in countries with less access to medical care for the people. However, in countries with better access to health care for their people, the normal routine for providing immunization is a series of IPVs without any OPVs. This is because the IPV is more expensive than the OPV. In 2016, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative changed their protocol for the plan to eradicate polio and included the addition of at least one dose of IPV in the vaccination plan and changed the OPV to reduce the likelihood of VDPV.

The current situation of the polio virus is that it is still persisting in Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to an article from Correspondence, the plan to eradicate polio in these countries is on a failing path. Based on what the article mentions, it does not seem as though polio will be eradicated unless the Pakistani and Afghanistan governments begin to take ownership of their own national public health in vaccinating their people. This is frustrating to me because although I know that there are many other important initiatives for spending for the Afghanistan government, vaccinating their people feels like the fastest and most long-lasting resolution for health. Also, the fact that the Pakistani and Afghanistan government is not spending the money to complete the eradication has drastic effects for the entire world in that there is still the potential of transmission for the global population. I believe that eradication is a burden for the global population with an increased burden on the Pakistani and Afghanistan governments.