Sep 3, 2013

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."

Aug 27, 2013

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Improves Sleep in Patients with Post-Polio Syndrome.

According to Novel Study Published in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience.

Amsterdam, NL, August 26, 2013 – Of the 15 million people around the world who have survived poliomyelitis, up to 80% report progressive deteriorating strength and endurance many years after infection, a condition known as post-polio syndrome (PPS).

Researchers in Italy from the National Hospital for Poliomyelitis, the Policlinico G.B. De Rossi in Verona, and the University of Milan have found that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for 15 days improved sleep and fatigue symptoms in patients with PPS, suggesting this non-invasive tool may be a new therapeutic option for this condition.

Their results are published in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience.

Aug 26, 2013

SPAIN - In 2012, a total of 23 polio cases were reported.

Autonomous communities of Spain with polio cases reported in 2012.

Andalusia, 3 polio cases.
Aragon, 4 polio cases.
Asturias, 1 polio case.
Balearic Islands, 1 polio case.
Canary Islands, 1 polio case.
Castile- La Mancha, 1 polio case.
Catalonia, 1 polio case.
Valencian Community, 6 polio cases.
Region of Murcia, 3 polio cases.
Basque Country, 2 polio cases.

Read more www.levante-emv.com
..........................................................................................................................................

File:Ccaa-spain.png

Aug 18, 2013

Somalia is suffering an "explosive" outbreak of polio, 105 cases reported.

The UN has warned of a severe outbreak of polio in Somalia, days after a medical charity pulled out of the country, citing insecurity.

At least 105 cases of polio have been recorded in Somalia this year - almost half the number of cases around the world in 2012.

The World Health Organization is trying to eradicate polio and the number of cases has fallen dramatically.
Most of the Somali cases are in areas controlled by Islamist group al-Shabab.

Aug 2, 2013

WHO concerned polio virus found in Israel may spreading to other countries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Wednesday that there was a medium to high likelihood that the polio virus found in Israel will spread overseas. The organization also issued a stark travel advisory warning tourists to make sure they were properly vaccinated before visiting Israel.

INDIA- Navi Mumbay. The family of nine-month-old Arsh Singh from Navi Mumbai, who tested positive for vaccine-derived polio virus (VDPV) in the second week of July, claims that they were kept in dark by the hospital and state health authorities about the child’s condition.

The family of nine-month-old Arsh Singh from Navi Mumbai, who tested positive for vaccine-derived polio virus (VDPV) in the second week of July, claims that they were kept in dark by the hospital and state health authorities about the child’s condition.

Arsh, who is tested positive for VDPV, is currently on ventilator.

Jul 31, 2013

Otro caso más de polio por vacuna con resultado de muerte, tras meses de sufrimiento.

Hasta cuando seguirán existiendo casos de polio y muertes evitables. A pesar de titulares de prensa, nunca fue una negligencia, fue un crimen y es un crimen.

www.postpolioinfor.org

Jul 19, 2013

High incidence of polio cases in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan has set alarm bells ringing. According to National Coordinator of the Prime Minister Polio Monitoring and Coordination Cell Dr. Altaf Bosan, the polio situation in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is very critical.

High incidence of polio cases in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan has set alarm bells ringing. According to National Coordinator of the Prime Minister Polio Monitoring and Coordination Cell Dr. Altaf Bosan, the polio situation in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is very critical.

“There is a danger that a large number of polio cases will emerge in the next months if the current outbreak in FATA with epicenter in restive Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency and North Waziristan Agency is not contained,” he told this scribe on Thursday. Dr. Bosan said that FATA was the region with the highest number of polio cases in the country in 2013.

Read more http://www.thenews.com.pk

A polio virus found recently in southern Israel is exactly of the same kind as prevalent in Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD, July 18: A polio virus found recently in southern Israel is exactly of the same kind as prevalent in Pakistan.

Dr Nima Abid, a representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Pakistan, while talking to Dawn expressed surprise over the development.

“We don’t have details how the virus travelled all the way to Israel.”

Jul 18, 2013

Julia thought she'd beaten polio 50 years ago. Now it's returned to haunt her... and it's a timebomb that could affect thousands more.

TV presenter Julia Roberts has an enviable, toned physique, but when you learn that as a child she was struck with polio, her fitness is even more impressive.

The infectious disease attacks the nervous system and can lead to paralysis, disability and even death.

Jul 16, 2013

After about two weeks without recording any case of Wild Polio Virus (WPV), Nigeria Thursday reported nine new cases of the crippling virus, bringing the number of cases for 2013 to 35.

According to the latest edition of Weekly Polio Update published by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), this is despite a sub-national Immunisation Plus Days (IPDs) held from July 6 to 9, 2013 in northern and middle-band states.

Jul 3, 2013

Lola Corrales Presidenta de la Asociación Afectados de Polio y Síndrome Post-Polio.

VIVIMOS CONDENADOS A UN ETERNO COMIENZO, DESEAMOS A LOS RESPONSABLES QUE SUFRAN LO MISMO QUE NOS HAN PROCURADO A LOS AFECTADOS DE POLIO Y SINDROME POST-POLIO. 50 AÑOS DE LA PRIMERA CAMPAÑA DE VACUNACIÓN ANTIPOLIO EN ESPAÑA.

Continúa leyendo www.postpolioinfor.org

Lola Corrales, Presidenta de la Asociación Afectados de Polio y Síndrome Post-Polio.

Me dice Lola Corrales, Presidenta de la Asociación Afectados de Polio y Síndrome Post-Polio, que este año se cumplen 50 años de la primera campaña de vacunación en España con la vacuna oral. Esta vacuna de pobres, pues los ricos se vacunan con la de 1955, la inyectable que no da polio y llegó antes a España para algunos y que solo volvió para todos en 2004.

Mientras Ana Mato, ministra de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad participa en la conmemoración de esta campaña de vacunación antipolio de España, rebajando el numero de casos de polio que facilitaba la Dictadura que ya no eran los reales.

www.lamoncloa.gob.es

Peshawar: A woman polio worker was on Wednesday shot dead by suspected militants in northwest Pakistan during an anti-immunisation drive, the latest in a series of attacks targeting the government's vaccination campaign.

Peshawar: A woman polio worker was on Wednesday shot dead by suspected militants in northwest Pakistan during an anti-immunisation drive, the latest in a series of attacks targeting the government's vaccination campaign.

Other members of the team managed to escape unhurt in the incident that took place in Swabi District of Khyber-Pakthunkhwa province, which last month witnessed two polio workers being killed by militants, police said.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad on Monday confirmed nine-month-old Said Akbar, from Kotla village, Datta Khel in NWA is infected with the virus of polio. The ill-fated child has not received a single dose of the polio vaccine as the area has been out of reach.

Third child contracts polio in North Waziristan.

PESHAWAR: As the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) struggles to continue anti-polio campaigns against all odds, a third child from North Waziristan Agency (NWA) has been diagnosed with the crippling disease.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad on Monday confirmed nine-month-old Said Akbar, from Kotla village, Datta Khel in NWA is infected with the virus. The ill-fated child has not received a single dose of the polio vaccine as the area has been out of reach. Vaccination teams have not been able to access the region since June 2012 after a ‘ban’ against polio immunisation was imposed by Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur.

Oral polio vaccine (OPV) contains an attenuated (weakened) vaccine-virus, activating an immune response in the body.

If a population is seriously under-immunized, an excreted vaccine-virus can continue to circulate for an extended period of time. The longer it is allowed to survive, the more genetic changes it undergoes. The vaccine-virus can genetically change into a form that can paralyse – this is what is known as a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV).

INDIA - PUNE: Fourteen children with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) found during a routine surveillance in the state this month are considered "highly suspected polio cases" on the basis of their clinical characteristics and epidemiological data.

14 higly suspected polio cases found in state.

PUNE: Fourteen children with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) found during a routine surveillance in the state this month are considered "highly suspected polio cases" on the basis of their clinical characteristics and epidemiological data.

The state health department has found 1,043 AFP cases during their routine surveillance so far this year. Acute flaccid paralysis is a term which applies to the exact clinical symptoms doctors see in polio virus infection. But this may not necessarily be caused by polio viruses. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

MIRANSHAH: The detection of dangerous poliovirus P1 in a child of the North Waziristan Agency (NWA) has raised concern among the health authorities.

Dangerous polio strain detected in NWA.

MIRANSHAH: The detection of dangerous poliovirus P1 in a child of the North Waziristan Agency (NWA) has raised concern among the health authorities. According to details, type P1 virus has been detected in a nine-month-old child of Datakhel area of NWA.

Health authorities noted that due to the creation of hurdles by the tribal people in the anti-polio vaccination, spread of poliovirus on a large scale was feared in FATA.

The health authorities also said that the three-day anti-polio vaccination campaign would kickstart in FATA, except North and South Waziristan agencies, from Monday (today). Due to security threats more than two hundred thousand children of NWA and SWA would remain deprived of the vaccination.

www.dailytimes.com.pk