First Case Of Polio Confirmed By WHO In Gaza
The first case of Polio is confirmed by The World Health Organisation (WHO) in Gaza. A ten-month-old baby is left paralysed by polio in battle-weary Gaza, which is the first case in twenty-five years in Gaza now.
Health officials said that polio tests were carried out in Amman, Jordan’s capital. The samples of children’s stool were tested at the Jordan National Polio Laboratory. The case was confirmed afterwards.
(Also read: Gaza School Attack Via Israeli Strike Kills 10 More)
WHO had already warned the people of Palestine in the last month that the disease had been detected. The infection was expected to grow soon as the polio campaign was not launched in Palestine.
UNRWA chief, Phillippe Lazzarini posted on X that polio “will not make the distinction between Palestinian and Israeli children. Delaying a humanitarian cause will increase the risk of spread among children”.
UNRWA ensures that their teams are working to eradicate the disease as soon as possible so that it does not affect the rest of Gaza’s children like a pandemic. The primary healthcare centres and mobile clinics are to launch a polio campaign by the end of this month in the war-struck zone, UNRWA said.
More than 1.6 million polio vaccines would arrive in Gaza by August end. Children under 10 years would be given two drops of polio vaccine each and would continue in two rounds.
The disease poliomyelitis, commonly referred to as polio, manifests itself either orally or through the faeces. It is devastatingly infectious, particularly among children. Once it gets into their immune system, it makes them paralysed for life.
The current life conditions in Gaza are highly conducive to the spread of this disease, and that too, at a faster rate. Overcrowded living spaces, poor sanitation and unhygienic water are some of the major issues Gaza is facing due to war. Untreated sewage water remains the prominent reason for the disease’s transmission.
All kinds of such infections, including both bacterial and viral, cause danger to human lives. Palestine’s healthcare system is collapsing at the moment, which creates a higher concern for polio spreading in the vicinity.
Since 1988, polio cases have declined by 99 percent which is a positive result observed through mass vaccination of children under five years.
Global concerns for first case of polio in Gaza
The Director of the United Nations showed deep concern on the news of polio in Gaza. The first case of polio is an alarm that an action plan is needed at the earliest, Tedros Adhanom Ghenreyesus said.
In another post on X, Dr Tedros said that genomic sequencing is confirmed in Gaza and the virus is detected to be a variant poliovirus type 2. The samples were taken from Gaza’s environment that were collected in June from the area’s wastewater.
Dr Tedros also informed that a child who has been detected with poliovirus in the lower left leg is now in stable condition in Deir Al-Balah.
The doctor assured that the Palestinian Ministry of Health, WHO and UNICEF are working together as a collaboration for fighting against the infection. Two rounds of polio would be implemented as vaccination in the coming weeks, starting at the end of August, the doctor told.
The sole purpose of the collaborative efforts would be to halt the transmission of diseases among other Palestinian children.
Global healthcare leaders have been asking for a ceasefire deal which would assist in addressing the escalating health crisis. Renewed calls for a temporary or permanent ceasefire is the dire need of time on humanitarian grounds, the global leaders have been requesting.
Healthcare workers in Palestine have shouted for critical aid supplies that have not reached the area for several months now. Urgent vaccines need to be administered to approximately 640,000 children now.
