On the occasion of World Polio Day, the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) is encouraging parents to vaccinate children below the age of five against the crippling disease.
Polio (poliomyelitis) is a highly infectious viral disease. It invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours. Polio can strike at any age, but it mainly affects children under five years old.
According to the Supreme Council of Health’s baby immunisation schedule, all children in Qatar, which is polio-free, are expected to be vaccinated against poliovirus at two, four, six and 18 months and between four to six years.
“The polio vaccine protects children by preparing their bodies to fight the polio virus. Almost all children (99 children out of 100) who get all the recommended doses of the vaccine will be protected from polio. There are two types of vaccine that can prevent polio: inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) and oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV),” said HMC’s Senior Consultant in Pediatrics, Dr Magda Ahmed Youssef.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), despite the progress achieved in polio eradication since 1988, as long as a single child remains infected with poliovirus, children in all countries are at risk of contracting the disease.