Need action to avert Measles and Polio epidemics

Context:

The UNICEF and World Health Organization (WHO) called for action to avert measles and polio epidemics as the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continued to disrupt immunization services across the world.

About:

Measles

• Measles is caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family. It is serious for small children.
• The disease spreads through the air by respiratory droplets produced from coughing or sneezing.
• Symptoms: They include cough, runny nose, inflamed eyes, sore throat, fever, and red, blotchy skin rash.
• Prevention: It is easily preventable by a vaccine.
• Treatment: There is no treatment to get rid of an established measles infection.

Polio

• Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus.
• The virus spreads from person to person and can infect a person’s spinal cord, causing paralysis.
• Most people who get infected with poliovirus will not have any visible symptoms.
  • About 25% people with the infection will have flu-like symptoms that may include: Sore throat, Fever, Tiredness, Nausea, Headache, and Stomach pain
• A smaller proportion of people with poliovirus infection will develop other, more serious symptoms that affect the brain and spinal cord:
  • Paresthesia (feeling of pins and needles in the legs)
  • Meningitis (infection of the covering of the spinal cord and/or brain) occurs in about 25%
  • Paralysis or weakness in the arms, legs, or both, occurs in about 1 out of 200 people with poliovirus infection.

The current situation of the disease

• Poliovirus transmission is expected to increase in Pakistan and Afghanistan and in many under-immunized areas of Africa.
• Pakistan and Afghanistan are among the two countries where polio is still endemic.