One of the curses of the 20th century, polio has declined by 99 percent in less than a quarter of a century, but still has a bolthole in three countries, including Pakistan, where six polio workers were shot dead Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Thanks to one of the world’s most ambitious vaccination campaigns, poliomyelitis infections dropped from 350,000 in 1988 to 650 last year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).<\/p>\n
In 1988, the tragic disease was endemic in more than 125 countries.<\/p>\n
Today, it is found only in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, where conflict, poverty or resistance by Islamic radicals hamper efforts to make polio the second human disease after smallpox to be eradicated.<\/p>\n
These havens mean polio remains a global threat, experts say.<\/p>\n
The virus can use even one person as a springboard for reconquest among an unvaccinated population.<\/p>\n
“Failure to eradicate polio from these last remaining strongholds could result in as many as 200,000 new cases every year, within 10 years, all over the world,” a WHO fact sheet said.<\/p>\n
Poliomyelitis is transmitted by a virus that enters the body through the mouth, usually in faecally-contaminated water or food.<\/p>\n
It affects mainly children under the age of five, with one in 200 infections leading to irreversible paralysis, usually in the legs, often within hours of infection.<\/p>\n
Of those paralysed, five to 10 percent die when their breathing muscles become immobilised.<\/p>\n
The Americas were certified polio-free in 1994, the WHO’s western Pacific region in 2000 and Europe in 2002.<\/p>\n
India joined the list in February this year thanks to a massive vaccination campaign.<\/p>\n
Last year, Pakistan reported the highest number of polio cases in a decade, with 198 in total, compared to 144 in 2010, The Lancet reported in February. Afghanistan had 81 cases, up from 30 the year before, it said.<\/p>\n
In Afghanistan vast areas are inaccessible due to war, but in Pakistan the campaign is complicated by suspicions that vaccination is a cover for espionage or sterilisation.<\/p>\n
Nigeria, where religious radicals also resist the vaccination campaign, accounted for 104 of the 193 cases so far recorded worldwide this year, according to WHO statistics.<\/p>\n
Eradicating polio in the next five years would save the world at least $40-50 billion (30-40 billion euros) in health costs, mainly in poor countries, the WHO says.<\/p>\n
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