Sep 27, 2013

Polio re-emergence in the EU can be prevented, concludes ECDC assessment.

The recent detection of wild-type polio virus 1 (WPV1) in sewage and asymptomatic carriers in Israel raises new questions on the potential for the importation and re-establishment of WPV in EU/EEA countries.

In the new rapid risk assessment, ECDC concludes that there is the possibility that poliovirus may be imported and re-established in the EU/EEA.

Furthermore, based on the limited information on existing surveillance systems, there is a risk that poliovirus circulation will go undetected if it is imported.

Sep 25, 2013

Polio vaccine reminder for travellers to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

Public Health England and National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) remind UK residents to make sure they are up-to-date with routine immunisations.
Travellers to Israel, or the West Bank and Gaza in Palestine, should also make sure they have had a polio containing vaccine in the past 10 years.

Sep 18, 2013

PERU - The seven families of the children who contracted polio after being vaccinated in Ministry of Health (MINSA) hospitals between 2003 and this year, accepted an offer of S/. 994.420 as compensation for the harm caused to the minors.

Polio victims' families agree to S/. 1 million settlement.

Last child infected with polio lost his battle with the disease over the weekend.

The seven families of the children who contracted polio after being vaccinated in Ministry of Health (MINSA) hospitals between 2003 and this year, accepted an offer of S/. 994.420 as compensation for the harm caused to the minors, El Comercio reported.

According to El Comercio, Mario Rios, lawyer for the families, says that Minsa sent letters to the parents of seven children on July 23 making it clear that the almost one million soles for damages was the final offer that the ministry was willing to give. This came after the families had refused an offer made in June that was around S/.300.000.

Read more www.peruthisweek.com

Sep 17, 2013

Polio cases worldwide.

Sep 10, 2013

Verheerende Folgen der Kinderlähmung.

Hilfe für Afrika: Der an Polio erkrankte Cosmas Stivin benötigt einen speziellen Rollstuhl – Reise der Breitenbachs nach Tansania für November geplant.

Braucht einen Rollstuhl: Der 17-jährige Cosmas Stivin aus Tansania leidet an Kinderlähmung. Ein speziell angefertigter Rollstuhl soll sein Leben etwas erleichtern.

Ein Rollstuhl für die kleine Maria, Beinprothesen für Zacharias und ein Spezial-Stuhl für Emanuel: Tanja Breitenbach aus Partenstein hat dank vieler Spenden dafür gesorgt, dass das Leben dieser vom Schicksal gebeutelten Menschen aus Tansania etwas einfacher wurde. Nun hat sie ein neues „Sorgenkind“, dem sie helfen möchte: der 17-jährige Cosmas Stivin. Er ist an Kinderlähmung (Polio) erkrankt. Für ihn sammelt sie nun Geld, damit ein spezieller Rollstuhl angefertigt werden kann.

Weiter lesen http://www.mainpost.de

Sep 6, 2013

Pakistan - An official at the Chief Minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell said the stool of Hijab from Jarma union council tested positive for wild polio virus (WPV1) according to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad.

Kohat reports first polio case of the year.

PESHAWAR.-Polio virus was confirmed in a 10-month-old girl from Kohat on Thursday, in what is the district’s first case of the year.

An official at the Chief Minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell said the stool of Hijab from Jarma union council tested positive for wild polio virus (WPV1) according to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad.

Continue reading www.tribune.com.pk

Sep 3, 2013

W 1952 r zachorowałem na chorobe Heinego Medina. Słyszałem o tzw syndromie post polio. W Polsce nie ma Stowarzyszeń pomocy osobom pio przebytej HM.Kto zajmuje się problemtyką tej choroby.

Ministerstwo Zdrowia twierdzi , że w Polsce nie ma problemu. Lekarze chyba tez nie wiedza o co chodzi. Na stronach internetowych róznych krajów są informacje o syndromie post polio, a Polsce jak zwykle nie ma nic.

W 1951 roku wystąpiła pierwsza Epidemia poliomyelitis gdyż zanotowano 3060 zachorowań a już w 1958 roku zarejestrowano 6090 zachorowań, wśród których było 348 zgonów. W 1952 r tylko 2083 r Szpitale nie przechowują dokumentów archiwalnych.

O tej chorobie wiadomo było już wcześniej bo już w 1921 r zachorował na nią pozniejszy Prezydent Stanów Zjednoczonych Ameryki Franklin Delano Roosvelt. Ustanowił on Fundacje udzielającej pomocy ofiarom wirusa polio.

Europa podobno jest wolna od tego wirusa. Czyżby napewno? Jest w innych krajach a to nas podobno nie dotyczy. Czy wirus ten nie może się zmutować i szczepionki obecnie używane nie będą skuteczne.

http://www.zdronet.pl

Aboard the Jibon Tari (Boat of Life) Floating Hospital, patients are treated for a range of conditions including cataracts, club-foot, post-polio deformities, cleft lip and loss of hearing.

A floating hospital that travels across Bangladesh's waterways brings hope to thousands of people.

An estimated 16 million people in Bangladesh have a disability and most of them live in rural areas and cannot reach modern healthcare facilities. But the charity IMPACT is helping local medics treat disabilities aboard a three-deck floating hospital. The 40 by 10 metre vessel travels along 3,000 kilometres of waterway and includes wards, an operating theatre, a training centre, laboratories and even its own water purification plant. Aboard the Jibon Tari (Boat of Life) Floating Hospital, patients are treated for a range of conditions including cataracts, club-foot, post-polio deformities, cleft lip and loss of hearing. Continue reading www.aljazeera.com

Mehrere Jahrzehnte nach der Infektion tritt das sogenannte Post-Polio-Syndrom (PPS) als Folgeerkrankung der Kinderlähmung auf.

Vergessenes Leid: Spätfolgen der Kinderlähmung.

Die Kinderlähmung (Poliomyelitis) gilt in Europa seit rund 20 Jahren als ausgerottet - dank einer konsequenten Impfpolitik. Bis 2018 soll das Poliovirus weltweit ausgerottet sein. Doch auch wenn Neuinfektionen durch Polio-Viren hierzulande keine Rolle mehr spielen, leiden die Betroffenen unter den Folgen ihrer Krankheit: Mehrere Jahrzehnte nach der Infektion tritt das sogenannte Post-Polio-Syndrom (PPS) als Folgeerkrankung der Kinderlähmung auf.

Weiter lesen www.ndr.de

Spain’s hospital waiting lists hit historical highs on austerity.

Budgetary restrictions and the laying off of healthcare personnel have resulted in a record number of people awaiting surgery in Spain: 571,395, a 6.4-percent increase in a little over a year. Average waiting times have also gone up from 76 days to 100, the worst figures since the Health Ministry started recording these data in 2004.

Furthermore, the number of patients waiting more than six months to be admitted to hospital has risen seven percent, despite this timeframe being the maximum permitted by law for certain types of procedure.

There have been 27 confirmed polio cases in Pakistan so far this year.

Syed Wali desperately wants to immunize his three young children against polio but fears the Islamic militants who banned the vaccine from this remote area in northwest Pakistan will catch him if he tries to smuggle it in.

"I can afford to bring the vaccine for my children, but what answer will I give the Taliban if they recover the vaccine bag from my possession?" Wali asked.

Wali's fears are shared by many in the North Waziristan tribal area as health authorities recently confirmed five new polio cases there and suspect there are many more. It's one of a series of outbreaks this year in parts of the country where security threats have kept out vaccination teams.

There's concern that the virus circulating in Israel may spill out of the country, says Emory University's.

Israel is in the midst of a massive, emergency immunization drive of all children under the age of 9 against polio.

Why?

Health workers detected the virus in southern Israel in February. Since then, they've found it in 85 different sewage samples across the country, the said Wednesday. Yet so far, no children have gotten sick or been paralyzed by the virus.

Israel has one of the highest rates of immunization coverage in the world, says Chris Maher of the World Health Organization. And that's one reason why the country has avoided polio cases, so far. But health officials are still very concerned about the situation.

The vaccination campaign aims to give polio boosters to a million children.

"There's no way that 100 percent of the population can be immune at any given time," Maher says. "So any time that virus is circulating [in the environment], if there's a person who's not immune, there's a risk that that person is going to get clinical polio. They're going to get infected, and they're going to get sick."