Islamabad: PakistanThe vaccination program has come under fire after the polio virus was detected in sewage samples in London for the first time in four decades.
UK health protection agency has noted that the virus detected on Thursday may have been imported from some country, and has asked parents to ensure that their children are fully immunized against the serious disease.
Health officials in Islamabad claim a “vaccine-derived virus” found in the UK is present in 22 countries and that the type found locally was wild poliovirus (WPV).
National Coordinator of Pakistan Polio Eradication Program Dr. Shahzad Begi said dawn The newspaper said on Thursday that it was too early to say whether the virus came from Pakistan, as UK officials were yet to announce the results of genome sequencing.
Genome sequencing helps determine the origin of a virus, as samples found in different regions contain a different ribonucleic acid (royal army) At times, the cases reported in Pakistan were reported to have originated from neighboring countries Afghanistan during genome sequencing.
“We are waiting for the genetic sampling report of the virus. Furthermore, there are two types of poliovirus in the world: WPV which is present in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV).
“Environmental samples in London were found to contain VDPV, which is present in 22 countries, so Pakistan should not be blamed for exporting it before genetic sequencing reports are received,” Baig said.
He added that the vaccine-derived variety can travel through Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan, Central Africa and many other countries.
The report said an expert from the Ministry of National Health Services, who was not authorized to speak on record, said that there are three types of WPV.
“Decades ago, a vaccine named ‘Trivalent’ was used because it included all three types. Following the elimination of type II in 2016, a ‘bivalent’ vaccine with types I and III of WPV was introduced.
“However, in 2020, type II suddenly reappeared, leading to fears that the virus has the potential to re-emerge. This second type of virus is called VDPV, as it was completely wiped out from the world,” he said.
Oral polio vaccine (OPV) contains an attenuated (weakened) vaccine virus, which activates an immune response in the human body. When administered to a child OPVThe weakened vaccine virus replicates (grows) in the intestine for a limited period of time, causing immunity to develop by producing antibodies, the expert said.
“During this, the vaccine virus is also emitted. In areas with inadequate sanitation, this excreted vaccine virus can spread within the immediate community (and provide protection to other children through ‘passive’ vaccination), before eventually dying,” he said.
On rare occasions, if a population is severely deficient, the excreted vaccine virus may continue to circulate for a long time. The longer it is allowed to survive, the more genetic changes occur.
“In very rare instances, the vaccine virus can be genetically transformed into a form that can paralyze – this is known as a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus,” explained the expert.
Dr Nadeem Jan, a public health expert, said Pakistan would be in a difficult, but rather embarrassing, situation if it was proved that the virus found in London came from here.
“Pakistan has already been under a travel advisory, due to which every person has to take vaccination and vaccination certificate before traveling abroad. We also claim that over 90% of the vaccination target has been achieved. The world can doubt our claims if it is found that the virus is from Pakistan,” he remarked.
Responding to a question, Dr Baig claimed that the polio virus was generally under control in Pakistan, except in North Waziristan, where there were denials of vaccines and people were not cooperating with polio teams.
“Around 200 countries have already eradicated the virus, and Pakistan can achieve the target as well. Unfortunately, North Waziristan has become a safe haven for the virus, but if we are able to defeat the virus there, we will be able to eradicate it from the country,” he said.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two remaining countries in the world where polio is endemic since Nigeria was declared free of poliovirus in 2020.
The Pakistan government has had to suspend anti-polio campaigns in the past following the increasing number of attacks on polio activists in different parts of the country.
Efforts to eradicate the crippling disease have been severely hampered in recent years by militants making vaccination teams deadly targets, opposing campaigns that claim polio drops cause infertility.
UK health protection agency has noted that the virus detected on Thursday may have been imported from some country, and has asked parents to ensure that their children are fully immunized against the serious disease.
Health officials in Islamabad claim a “vaccine-derived virus” found in the UK is present in 22 countries and that the type found locally was wild poliovirus (WPV).
National Coordinator of Pakistan Polio Eradication Program Dr. Shahzad Begi said dawn The newspaper said on Thursday that it was too early to say whether the virus came from Pakistan, as UK officials were yet to announce the results of genome sequencing.
Genome sequencing helps determine the origin of a virus, as samples found in different regions contain a different ribonucleic acid (royal army) At times, the cases reported in Pakistan were reported to have originated from neighboring countries Afghanistan during genome sequencing.
“We are waiting for the genetic sampling report of the virus. Furthermore, there are two types of poliovirus in the world: WPV which is present in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV).
“Environmental samples in London were found to contain VDPV, which is present in 22 countries, so Pakistan should not be blamed for exporting it before genetic sequencing reports are received,” Baig said.
He added that the vaccine-derived variety can travel through Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan, Central Africa and many other countries.
The report said an expert from the Ministry of National Health Services, who was not authorized to speak on record, said that there are three types of WPV.
“Decades ago, a vaccine named ‘Trivalent’ was used because it included all three types. Following the elimination of type II in 2016, a ‘bivalent’ vaccine with types I and III of WPV was introduced.
“However, in 2020, type II suddenly reappeared, leading to fears that the virus has the potential to re-emerge. This second type of virus is called VDPV, as it was completely wiped out from the world,” he said.
Oral polio vaccine (OPV) contains an attenuated (weakened) vaccine virus, which activates an immune response in the human body. When administered to a child OPVThe weakened vaccine virus replicates (grows) in the intestine for a limited period of time, causing immunity to develop by producing antibodies, the expert said.
“During this, the vaccine virus is also emitted. In areas with inadequate sanitation, this excreted vaccine virus can spread within the immediate community (and provide protection to other children through ‘passive’ vaccination), before eventually dying,” he said.
On rare occasions, if a population is severely deficient, the excreted vaccine virus may continue to circulate for a long time. The longer it is allowed to survive, the more genetic changes occur.
“In very rare instances, the vaccine virus can be genetically transformed into a form that can paralyze – this is known as a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus,” explained the expert.
Dr Nadeem Jan, a public health expert, said Pakistan would be in a difficult, but rather embarrassing, situation if it was proved that the virus found in London came from here.
“Pakistan has already been under a travel advisory, due to which every person has to take vaccination and vaccination certificate before traveling abroad. We also claim that over 90% of the vaccination target has been achieved. The world can doubt our claims if it is found that the virus is from Pakistan,” he remarked.
Responding to a question, Dr Baig claimed that the polio virus was generally under control in Pakistan, except in North Waziristan, where there were denials of vaccines and people were not cooperating with polio teams.
“Around 200 countries have already eradicated the virus, and Pakistan can achieve the target as well. Unfortunately, North Waziristan has become a safe haven for the virus, but if we are able to defeat the virus there, we will be able to eradicate it from the country,” he said.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two remaining countries in the world where polio is endemic since Nigeria was declared free of poliovirus in 2020.
The Pakistan government has had to suspend anti-polio campaigns in the past following the increasing number of attacks on polio activists in different parts of the country.
Efforts to eradicate the crippling disease have been severely hampered in recent years by militants making vaccination teams deadly targets, opposing campaigns that claim polio drops cause infertility.