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Are Polio outbreaks like seen now in Gaza partly the result of mistakes in global vaccine strategy? : Tom McDermott

The recent polio outbreak in Gaza, which paralyzed a 10-month-old child, is a stark reminder of the challenges and limitations of the global polio eradication campaign. As reported by AP News, the case involved a mutated strain of the poliovirus that was shed by vaccinated individuals, underscoring the risks associated with the 2016 decision to switch vaccine types. Similar outbreaks were reported last year in Egypt and may be linked to the Gaza case. Moreover, the high prevalence of polio detected in Gaza's sewage is directly tied to the region's inadequate sanitation infrastructure and the significant decline in polio vaccination coverage since the outbreak of war. Prior to the conflict, Gaza's children enjoyed near-universal vaccination rates.

The article goes on to say that other similar outbreaks relate to the continued presence of the mutated virus in the environment, which in turn poses a higher risk of transmission to unvaccinated individuals. Such outbreaks have been reported now in 43 countries and some 3,300 children have been paralyzed.  As a result, public confidence in polio vaccination has been undermined.

The article is critical of WHO and its partners, which some experts believe underestimated the potential for vaccine-linked outbreaks and the persistence of the mutated poliovirus in the environment.
The global spread of polio is a reminder that until all forms of polio are gone, children in every country remain at risk. 

"Scientists who have been monitoring polio outbreaks said the baby’s illness showed the failures of a global effort by the World Health Organization and its partners to fix serious problems in their otherwise largely successful eradication campaign, which has nearly wiped out the highly infectious disease. Separately, a draft report by experts deemed the WHO effort a failure and “a severe setback.”

"The polio strain in question evolved from a weakened virus that was originally part of an oral vaccine credited with preventing millions of children worldwide from being paralyzed. But that virus was removed from the vaccine in 2016 in hopes of preventing vaccine-derived outbreaks."
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