US Travel Alert For Polio-Endemic Asian Countries including Pakistan
The US has issued new guidelines for travelers bound for polio-endemic countries on the recommendations of its federal agency -- Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) -- to stop the spread of the virus to other states. “The World Health Organization recommends that these countries require residents and long-term (four weeks or more) visitors show proof of polio vaccination before leaving the country,” reads the level 2 travel alert by the US.
Before traveling to these countries, adults who have completed their routine polio vaccine series as children should receive a single, lifetime adult booster dose of polio vaccine.
According to the CDC, polio outbreaks have been reported in eight Asian countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia , Papua New Guinea and Philippines.
The WHO had extended travel restrictions on Pakistan following frequent outbreak of vaccine-derived poli-ovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) and wild polio-virus type 1 (WP1) cases.
What can travelers do to prevent polio?
According to the US travel alert 2, the CDC recommends that all travelers to the countries in-question be vaccinated fully against polio.
The adults who were fully vaccinated during childhood should receive an additional (single) lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine.
“Even if you were vaccinated as a child or have been sick with polio before, you may need a booster dose to make sure you are protected”, reads the alert. The World Health Organization recommends that these countries require residents and long-term (4 weeks or more) visitors show proof of polio vaccination before leaving the country, according to the CDC.
Clinician information
For travelers going to countries with circulating polio-virus, who have completed their routine polio vaccine series but who have not already received an adult booster dose, the CDC recommends administering an inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) booster dose.
Federal government version
A spokesperson for Pakistan’s Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination (MoNHSRC), said on Friday that the country faced a challenging year for polio eradication in 2019.
“As of today, 134 of our children have been paralyzed by this debilitating disease”, he said adding that the government had put in place a comprehensive plan to reverse the situation in 2020, starting with a successful nationwide polio vaccination campaign last month.
Commenting on the WHO IHR
Emergency Committee recommendations regarding vaccination of international travelers from Pakistan and other infected countries, the spokesperson said that these were first implemented in May 2014 to prevent the transmission of virus from infected countries to other areas.
“Pakistan implemented the same immediately as a responsible member of the international community and has been doing so since then”, he said.
According to him, over 500,000 international travelers from Pakistan received polio vaccine every month prior to departure and the certificate issued in this respect was valid for 12 months.
Around 180,000 travelers of all ages were additionally vaccinated every month at Pak-Afghan border crossings.
Pakistan polio eradication program faced special challenges in 2019 which led to resurgence of polio cases during the year, he said.
The program, however, conducted a critical analysis of the situation and devised a comprehensive strategy to overcome challenges in a sustainable manner.
“Our fightback has already started through the successful Dec NID that was inaugurated by the prime minister in the federal capital and all chief ministers in respective provinces”, the spokesperson said.
He added that a total of 40 million under five-year age children were successfully reached and vaccinated to protect them against the crippling virus.
He informed that the national coordinator of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) had planned an aggressive case response from Jan 13 targeting around 12 million children in currently infected districts.
This would be followed by two NIDs in February and April and another strategic response during March.
“All these efforts will plug the immunity gaps and significantly reduce the transmission intensity by mid-2020, setting the stage for the final push”, he added.
Meanwhile, Minister of state for NHSRC Dr Zafar Mirza said that the government was working across the political divide to take the agenda forward as a shared priority.
“Besides extensive community engagement, the Ministry of NHSRC has already moved on integration of the Polio program with EPI to quickly improve routine immunization coverage particularly in the high risk areas”, he said… Dawn
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