World Polio Day is celebrated on October 24, to highlight the global efforts towards polio-free world.
The day encourages the use of polio vaccines.
According to WHO, the polio cases have decreased by 99% since 1988. In 1988, there were 350,000 reported cases. This has reduced to 22 reported cases in 2017. In 2020, three countries reported transmission of polio in the world. They were Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.
The Polio myelitis is an infectious viral disease. It gets transmitted from person-to-person through faecal and oral route. Also, the disease gets transmitted through common source such as contaminated water.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched in 1988 by the World Health Assembly to eradicate polio worldwide.
There are three types of polio strains namely type 1, type 2 and type 3.
Type 2 is wild polio virus and was eradicated in 1999. Type 3 is also called a wild polio virus and it was last reported in Nigeria in 2012. Both Type 2 and Type 3 have been declared as eradicated.
India received polio free certification from the WHO in 2014. Elimination of Polio refers to reduction to zero of new cases of polio.
There are two types of vaccine to prevent infection. They are Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) and Injectable Polio Vaccine (IPV).
