inactivated poliovirus vaccine
a vaccine consisting of inactivated poliovirus that is injected subcutaneously to provide immunity to poliomyelitis.
This means by the time a paralytic case is found, the poliovirus has probably spread.
As with other infectious diseases, the poliovirus does not respect borders.
We use it to isolate and stamp out transmission of the poliovirus.
an oral vaccine (containing live but weakened poliovirus) that is given to provide immunity to poliomyelitis.
In places where fragile governments cannot assist us and health infrastructure is nonexistent, fighting the poliovirus is costly.
We need to interrupt endemic transmission of wild poliovirus in limited areas within just four countries and a few other areas that have been reinfected.
Two weeks ago, I visited Afghanistan and Pakistan, two of the four remaining countries where indigenous transmission of wild poliovirus has not yet been interrupted.
Globally, more than 90,000 cases of acute flaccid paralysis were reported in 2009, of which 1606 were caused by wild poliovirus.
Northern Nigeria is currently affected by a new outbreak of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), which has begun to spread internationally.
It is important that countries across central Africa and the Horn of Africa strengthen AFP surveillance, in order to rapidly detect any poliovirus importations and facilitate a rapid response.
In very rare instances, the virus in the vaccine can mutate into a form that can paralyse - this is what is known as a vaccine-derived poliovirus or VDPV.
