The Israel government announced on Sunday the launch of the active polio virus campaign in the South after identifying at least 1,000 carriers in the area.
It is advisable for children born after January 2004 and at least three months old to be brought to publicly-funded clinics to receive free oral drops against active polio. The Health Ministry has announced that the campaign starts on Aug. 5.
Most countries already provide inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) to children as part of public health policy but active oral vaccine (OPV) may also be provided in case the risk of transmission is high, such as the case in Israel.
The polio virus is a contagious and viral type which causes paralysis, affecting children below five years old. It can be transmitted through water and food contamination. The only way to prevent the virus is vaccination.
A few weeks ago, the health officials conducted some tests after detecting the virus in sewage samples. Further tests revealed that about 2,000 of the population are carrier of the virus. Health Minister Yael German clarified in an interview with Channel 2 television that there were no reported cases yet but they would want to act against it now to protect the public. They were looking at providing the vaccine to about 150,000 children.
The health officials are also studying the possibility of extending the campaign to other areas. They would like to concentrate in the south for now.
This campaign is nothing new to Israel, a similar campaign was launched during the 1980s when a polio outbreak occurred in the country and the Palestinian territories.
Different health groups believe that it is possible for the entire world to be polio-free y 2018 if the countries will work altogether to raise a $5.5 billion fund for the vaccination and monitoring program.
The World Health Organization has reported in their website that as of April 2013, there are only three countries which remain polio-endemic: Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Israel obviously doesn’t want to be the fourth.
