7 July 2005

Polio update - Indonesia and Angola

 

On the 6 July 2005, 11 new polio cases were confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Indonesia, bringing the total number of cases that have been reported from Indonesia since 2 May 2005 to 111 [1]

The new cases are from Banten province that was included in the recent emergency polio immunisation campaigns for children aged less than 5 years. However, there have been cases reported from Lampung province on the island of Sumatra , and from Central Java outside the areas of the polio immunisation campaigns. These areas will be included in the next phase of the large scale immunisation campaigns that will start in August. The WHO have highlighted that there is a risk this current outbreak may continue to spread.

Angola has reported its first case of polio since 2001 [2]. The case was in a 17 month old girl from the metropolitan area of Luanda . Genetic sequencing of the virus indicates it originated from India . This brings to 17, the number of previously polio-free countries that have reported cases since 2003.

It remains important for travellers to polio risk countries to ensure that their polio vaccination schedule is up to date. Travellers whose last dose of polio vaccine was more than ten years previously should receive a booster.

Reference

1. World Health Organization. Outbreak of polio in Indonesia .

http://www.searo.who.int/vaccine/linkfiles/InoUpdate.pdf

2. World Health Organization. Poliomyelitis in Angola . http://www.who.int/csr/don/2005_06_07a/en/index.html

Links

World Health Organization Polio Eradication Initiative. http://www.polioeradication.org

NaTHNaC Poliomyelitis Information Sheet

http://www.NaTHNaC.org/pro/factsheets/polio.htm