Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has marked World Polio Day with the theme, ‘One Day. One Focus: Ending Polio,’ with a commitment to ensure that Qatar remains free of poliomyelitis by encouraging the vaccination of children below five.
According to the Ministry of Public Health’s baby immunisation schedule, all children in Qatar, which is already a polio-free country, are expected to be vaccinated against poliovirus at the age of two, four, six and 18 months and between four and  six years.
“The polio vaccine protects children by preparing their bodies to fight the polio virus. Almost all children (99 out of 100) who get all the recommended doses of the vaccine will be protected from polio. There are two types of vaccines that can prevent polio: inactivated poliovirus vaccine and oral poliovirus vaccine,” said HMC’s senior consultant in paediatrics, 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 is infected with poliovirus, children in all countries are at risk of contracting the disease. The WHO says the poliovirus can easily be imported into a polio-free country and spread rapidly amongst unimmunised populations. Failure to eradicate polio could result in as many as 200,000 new cases every year.
“Poliovirus only infects humans. It is very contagious and spreads through person-to-person contact. The virus lives in an infected person’s throat and intestines and enters the body through the mouth then spreads through contact with the feces of an infected person and, though less common, through droplets from a sneeze or cough,” explained Dr Youssef.
She stressed that an infected person may spread the virus to others immediately before symptoms appear and about one to two weeks later. “The virus can live in an infected person’s feces for many weeks. It can contaminate food and water in unsanitary conditions. People who do not have symptoms can still pass the virus to others and make them sick.”
Dr Youssef explained that initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs.
“In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent. There is no cure for polio; it can only be prevented by immunisation.”