Page 17 - Rotary Matters - November

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Marie-louise Lees Chair - The Rotary Foundation
Mobile: 0408 134 363 Email: foundationgrantschair@rotary9510.org

New oral polio vaccine
October 24 is commemorated by Rotary clubs around the world as
World Polio Day (the birth date of Jonas Edward Salk, the American
medical researcher who developed the first polio vaccine).

This year it is also marked with the presence of a new oral polio
vaccine, which is not a live vaccine. Because it is not live, it is
not able to create the much - weakened vaccine-caused polio.
So far 370m dozes have been given in 20 countries.

One of recent problems in the eradication campaign is the presence of a number of new cases derived
from the former live oral vaccine used by Rotary. Fortunately, these cases of polio are rare (1 case in
every 2m dozes) and do not usually lead to paralysis. However, this year world attention has focused on
vaccine-derived polio because the disease has been detected in sewage systems in London and New York.

One case of paralysis from this weakened strain has been recorded in New York. A number of African
countries have also recorded cases of vaccine-derived polio. Most developed countries, including
Australia, do not use the oral vaccine. The injected vaccine which is used does not lead to vaccine-derived
polio. However, Rotary’s main focus is to eradicate the wild virus which remains
endemic in two countries Afghanistan and Pakistan. So far this year Afghanistan
has had 2 cases (4 cases in all of 2021) and Pakistan 20 cases (1 in all of 2021).

Pakistan is the problem country. The cases in Afghanistan have come from
Pakistan and the recent extensive flooding has resulted in a number of cases
in Karachi and surrounding areas in Southern Pakistan in particular. Rotary’s
global campaign with its partners is very focused on Pakistan.

To show how easily the disease spreads 7 cases in Mozambique and 1 case
in Malawi this year have been sourced to infected travellers from Pakistan.

Rotary International has also set up a Polio Plus Society where
Rotarians can commit to donating USD100/year and receive a Polio Plus
lapel pin. Interested members can arrange to join the Society through
the RISPPO office in Sydney.

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