According to a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation expert, a pause in the immunisation programme at the start of the Covid pandemic has resulted in the discovery of new polio cases this year in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, and Mozambique.
According to Dr. Ananda Sankar Bandyopadhyay, Deputy Director of Technology, Research, and Analytics at the Foundation’s Polio Team, the discovery of the poliovirus was also a reminder that if it exists anywhere in the world, it remains a threat everywhere.
Poliovirus was discovered in wastewater in parts of London and New York a few months ago. This year, a case of wild poliovirus was discovered in Mozambique in May and another in Malawi in February.
“Polio detection is caused by low immunisation rates. When the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020, polio campaigns were temporarily halted for four months to protect communities and health workers from the spread of the coronavirus. This resulted in increased poliovirus spread in countries,” Bandyopadhyay told PTI in an exclusive interview here.
The Covid pandemic had clearly had a negative impact on global immunisation rates, according to the epidemiologist, who graduated with a gold medal from Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in 2005.
Other challenges included misinformation, vaccine hesitancy, and issues such as reaching every community with the polio vaccine, he said.
Bandyopadhyay coordinates global research aimed at achieving and maintaining polio eradication, in addition to developing novel polio vaccines, generating data for polio immunisation policies, and advancing improved detection and surveillance tools.
“Recent polio detections in the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as a wild poliovirus outbreak confirmed earlier this year in Malawi and Mozambique, are an urgent reminder that if polio exists anywhere in the world, it remains a threat everywhere,” “said Bandyopadhyay.
According to the website of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a WHO agency, wild poliovirus was last reported in the United States and the United Kingdom in 1979 and 1982, respectively, and in Malawi and Mozambique in 1992 and 1992.
“Polio-free countries are not polio-risk-free countries until global eradication is achieved,” said the epidemiologist, who graduated from Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital in 2005.
In response to a question, Bandyopadhyay stated that health authorities in the United States and the United Kingdom are acting appropriately, launching urgent vaccination campaigns to protect those at risk and beefing up disease surveillance systems to better track virus spread.
“The key will be to unite in our effort to end polio in countries where outbreaks have persisted, as well as strengthen public health response in countries where importation events have occurred,” he said.
Bandyopadhyay praised India’s polio victory as one of the greatest achievements in global health, claiming that many people believed the country would be the last to eradicate the disease due to its difficult geography.
Bandyopadhyay, who worked as a Surveillance Medical Officer with the World Health Organization’s National Polio Surveillance Project and contributed to India’s polio elimination effort and measles surveillance initiatives, stated that the Indian government should maintain high polio immunisation rates.
“The government’s strong commitment, supported by meticulous planning and seamless coordination across all levels of government, communities, health workers, and partners, demonstrated what is possible in public health when everyone is united and working together,” said the report “He stated.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared India and ten other South East Asian countries polio-free in 2014.
“As with any other country, India must maintain high immunisation rates against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases.” “said Bandyopadhyay.
The virus was discovered in an unvaccinated adult man in Rockland County, New York, in July of this year, as well as in several wastewater samples near his residence.
Between February and May 2022, poliovirus was found in sewage in north and east London.
The virus was discovered in Mozambique in May after a child contracted the disease. It is the second case of wild poliovirus imported into Southern Africa this year, following one in Malawi in mid-February.
In response to a question, Bandyopadhyay described the oral polio vaccine (OPV) as the “gold standard” for immunising people against the disease, claiming that it has reduced polio cases by 99 percent worldwide since 1988.
“It is critical to look at the incredible signs of progress made to understand what is possible when we work together. Two of the three wild polio strains have been eradicated, 20 million cases of polio paralysis have been avoided, and cases have dropped by 99 percent. Now is the time to redouble your efforts and finish that last 1% “According to the Foundation’s expert.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a nonprofit organisation founded by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his former wife Melinda French Gates to combat poverty, disease, and inequity around the world.
