Rapid Fire
Vaccine-Derived Polio Detected
- 24 Aug 2024
- 2 min read
Recently, a child from Meghalaya was diagnosed with vaccine-derived polio (VDP).
- VDP occurs when the weakened (attenuated) strain of poliovirus used in the oral polio vaccine (OPV) mutates and regains the ability to cause paralysis.
- VDP typically occurs in areas with low immunisation coverage, poor sanitation, or among immunocompromised individuals.
- More than 90% of VDP outbreaks are due to the Wild poliovirus type 2 (WPV2) present in OPV.
- The Indian government does not count vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) as polio since these cases are sporadic and pose little or no threat to others.
- The WHO declared India polio-free in 2014. This case does not jeopardise India’s polio-free status.
- Types of Poliovirus: WPV1, WPV2, and WPV3 are three types of wild polioviruses (naturally occurring), with identical symptoms but different genetic structures.
- WPV2 and WPV3 were eradicated in 2015 and 2019 respectively with ongoing global efforts to eradicate WPV1.
- Currently, wild poliovirus is endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) was developed by Jonas Salk using an inactivated virus while Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) was developed by Albert Sabin, containing a live, attenuated virus.
Read More: Polio Eradication
