The negative impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on immunization and the positive impact on Polio eradication in Pakistan and Afghanistan

Rana, Muhammad Suleman; Usman, Mr Muhammad; Ikram, Aamer; Salman, Muhammad; Zaidi, Syed Sohail Zahoor; Umair, Massab

doi:10.1016/j.jinf.2022.04.039

Cited by 5 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Polio vaccination rates of 2020 indicate that vaccination coverage in Afghanistan and Pakistan lies between 65% and 85% 7 . But the resurging cases indicate that this vaccination coverage is substantially lower than required and a 100% vaccination drive is needed to eradicate the chances of polio directly from these endemic regions.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such a measure will promote the eradication of poliomyelitis, simultaneously with immunization awareness against other preventable viral diseases such as coronavirus. 7 The prevalence of remaining viral cases in LMICs like Pakistan and Afghanistan truly indicates that viral infections are still there, owing to poor social practices and a lack of cultural and religious understanding. 10,11 Some other reasons for a gap in full immunization may include those pertaining to vaccine hesitancy, foreign conspiracy theories, wrong information spread regarding vaccination, and the global displacement caused by the healthcare disruption in the Coronavirus pandemic period.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the aforementioned organizations on board, combined efforts are being carried out to prevent the rare incidence of poliomyelitis. Hope is there, and with timely planning of vaccination drives the focus is being kept on the eradication of polio along with Coronavirus pandemic 7 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tracking down the recent surge of polio virus in endemic and outbreak countries

Malik¹,

Waheed

2022

Journal of Medical Virology

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Continuous and progressive efforts are being made globally to eradicate the incidence of poliovirus. The detrimental nature of polio calls for action of global vaccination. Owing to large‐scale vaccination efforts, many countries have been declared polio‐free and people are fully vaccinated against poliovirus. However, concern still remains as new cases are being identified in countries declared polio‐free. This scenario is particularly noticed due to the comprised healthcare system in the past 3 years of the Corona pandemic. Conditions for lower‐middle‐income countries are more problematic, where there are meager healthcare resources and the burden on the healthcare system is higher. Studies indicate some cases of non‐paralytic species of polio including cVDPV1, cVDPV2, and cVDPV3 in the group of outbreak countries. However, the major problem is associated with wild‐type poliovirus, that is, WPV1 which leads to paralytic disease and is still present in endemic countries, such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. The incidence rate of wild polio cases has significantly decreased in comparison to the past years but the problem needs to be dealt with at the grass‐roots level. In this article, the most recent data have been collected pertaining to the incidence of multivariant species of poliovirus, with a special focus on endemic and outbreak countries. A short overview of challenges to vaccination and a recommendatory overview has also been included for dealing with polio surges.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tracking down the recent surge of polio virus in endemic and outbreak countries

Malik¹,

Waheed

2022

Journal of Medical Virology

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“…As a result, it was assumed that the world would commemorate the century with a polio-free planet. It was also found that by the year 2000, the target year for eradication, the world had achieved a 99% reduction in polio cases [ 3 ]. Even 20 years after the century, certain nations in the world failed to make any headway in stopping the spread of the poliovirus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vaccine Hesitancy and Perceptions of the Community about Polio in High-Risk Areas of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan

et al. 2022

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The study aimed to determine the reasons for polio vaccine hesitancy among parents of persistently missed children (PMCs) in the high-risk areas of Karachi, Pakistan. A cross-sectional survey of parents of PMCs was conducted in April 2019 in 34 high-risk union councils of Karachi. PMCs were randomly selected from the polio program database, and further information was collected on a questionnaire by trained staff using face-to-face interviews with parents of PMCs. A total of 325 participants were included in the study. Among refusals, 112 (37.3%) had no trust in vaccine quality, followed by 45 (15.0%) who were afraid of side effects, 42 (14.0%) whose elders did not allow polio vaccination, 39 (13.0%) who refused due to the influence of negative social media videos, and 20 (6.7%) who had no trust in polio teams. We concluded that misconception is still a big challenge, and the program needs to strive for community acceptance. Low levels of trust in vaccines and teams as well as fear of OPV side effects were among the main reason for vaccine hesitancy. The participant communities recommended involving famous medical doctors, religious influencers, and TV or sports stars to enhance knowledge and acceptance of polio vaccination.

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“…In a recent manuscript entitled” The negative impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on immunization and the positive impact on Polio eradication in Pakistan and Afghanistan“ [1] , we described the looming threat of poliovirus outbreak in Pakistan and Afghanistan due to the disruption in immunization imposed by COVID-19 Pandemic. The concerns raised by the authors are proved correct as shown by the ongoing poliovirus outbreak in Pakistan and Afghanistan.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%