BACKGROUND The government of India launched the pulse polio immunization (PPI) programme in 1995 with the aim of eradicating poliomyelitis by the end of 2000. Despite this, 733 children with polio were reported in 2009 alone. Therefore, there is a need to understand the reason underlying such high numbers of cases after so many years of programme implementation. This study was performed to asse...

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) established its Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) in 2010 to monitor and guide its progress toward stopping polio transmission globally. The concept of an IMB is innovative, with no clear analogue in the history of the GPEI or in any other global health program. The IMB meets with senior program officials every 3-6 months. Its reports provide anal...

A priority of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) 2013-2018 strategic plan is to evaluate the potential impact on polio eradication resulting from expanding one or more Supplementary Immunization Activities (SIAs) to children beyond age five-years in polio endemic countries. It has been hypothesized that such expanded age group (EAG) campaigns could accelerate polio eradication by el...

On August 10, 2016, 2 years after the most recent wild poliovirus (WPV) case was reported in Nigeria (in July 2014) (1), two WPV cases were reported in the northeastern state of Borno, which has been severely affected by insurgency-related insecurity since 2013. On September 9 and 26, 2016, two additional WPV cases were reported in Borno in children whose families migrated from security-comprom...

The WHO European Region has been declared polio-free since 2002. By 2010, inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) was the only polio vaccine in use in the EU/EEA for the primary vaccination of children. A systematic review of the literature on polio seroprevalence studies, complemented by the analysis of available vaccine coverage data, has been carried out with the aim of assessing the level of protec...

BACKGROUND In 2009, enhanced poliovirus surveillance was established in polio-endemic areas of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India, to assess poliovirus infection in older individuals. METHODS In Uttar Pradesh, stool specimens from asymptomatic household and neighborhood contacts of patients with laboratory-confirmed polio were tested for polioviruses. In Bihar, in community-based surveillance, ch...

OBJECTIVE To assess parent's knowledge and perceptions surrounding polio and polio vaccination, self-reported participation in polio supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) targeting children aged < 5 years, and reasons for non-participation. METHODS The mixed methods study began with a cross-sectional survey in Karachi, Pakistan. A structured questionnaire was administered to assess par...

To the Editor: In July 2007, an Australian traveler imported polio from Pakistan to Australia (1). He was a 22-year-old man who had immigrated to Australia and had traveled to his country of origin (Pakistan) to visit friends and relatives. Pakistan is one of 4 countries (Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Pakistan) where polio is still endemic. A diagnosis of polio was made shortly after his return ...

Global measures to eradicate polio began in 1988; as of 2014, four of six World Health Organization (WHO) regions have been certified polio-free. Within the two endemic regions (African and Eastern Mediterranean), Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have never interrupted transmission of wild poliovirus (WPV) (1). The primary means of detecting poliovirus transmission is surveillance for acute f...

Following the re-emergence of polio in West Africa, an investigation was conducted on the occasion when transients gather for the festival in Niger, where the oral polio vaccine (OPV) and BCG coverage among children under the age of 5 years can be evaluated. A total of 259 children were investigated, including 186 from settled families and 73 from unsettled families. OPV coverage was found to b...