Has polio returned to US after 35
years?
Salk Institute
in La Jolla, California
Kounteya Sinha,TNN | Feb 24, 2014, 08.45
PM IST
LONDON: In what could be the biggest blow in
recent years to the global fight against polio, fears have now emerged that the
crippling disease has returned to America after 35 years.
Researchers have identified a polio-like
syndrome in a cluster of children from California over a one-year period.
A detailed analysis of five cases showed enterovirus-68 — which is related to
poliovirus — could be to blame.
Interestingly, all the children had been
vaccinated against polio. Symptoms have ranged from restricted movement in one
limb to severe weakness in both legs and arms.
The cases have been spread over a 100-mile
diameter (160km) so the research team do not think the virus represents a single
cluster or outbreak.
Polio is a highly contagious disease and
has been wiped out from the developed world decades ago. In case the virus
returns to this region, it will throw back all progress made to eradicate the
disease by half a century. In the late 1940s to the early 1950s, polio crippled
an average of more than 35,000 people in the United States each year.
However the United States has been polio-free
since 1979.
In 1994, the entire WHO Region of the Americas was certified
polio-free. In a highly worrying development, US doctors have warned of an
emerging polio-like disease in California
where up to 20 people have been infected.
A meeting of the American Academy
of Neurology has been told today that some patients had developed paralysis in
all four limbs, which had not improved with treatment.
Polio was recently eradicated from India leaving it endemic only in three countries
— Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.
"Although poliovirus has been
eradicated from most of the globe, other viruses can also injure the spine,
leading to a polio-like syndrome," said case report author Keith Van
Haren, with Stanford University and a member of the American Academy
of Neurology.
"In the past decade, newly identified
strains of enterovirus have been linked to polio-like outbreaks among children
in Asia and Australia.
These five new cases highlight the possibility of an emerging infectious
polio-like syndrome in California".
Van Haren said he and his colleagues
noticed several of these cases at their medical centers and decided to look for
similar cases in California.
They reviewed all polio-like cases among children who had samples referred to California's Neurologic
and Surveillance Testing program from August 2012 to July 2013.
Cases were included in the analysis if the
children had paralysis affecting one or more limbs with abnormal MRI scans of
the spinal cord that explained the paralysis. They did not include children who
met criteria for Guillain-Barre syndrome and botulism, which can cause similar
symptoms.
The five children experienced paralysis of
one or more arms or legs that came on suddenly and reached the height of its
severity within two days of onset. Three of the children had a respiratory
illness before the symptoms began. All of the children had been previously
vaccinated against poliovirus.
The children were treated but their
symptoms did not improve and they still had poor limb function after six
months. Two children tested positive for enterovirus-68, a rare virus
previously associated with polio-like symptoms. No cause was identified in the
remaining three children.
"Our findings have important
implications for disease surveillance, testing and treatment," said Van
Haren. "We would like to stress that this syndrome appears to be very,
very rare. Any time a parent sees symptoms of paralysis in a child, the child
should be seen by a doctor right away".
CDC Atlanta says it is crucial to maintain
the success rate of US vaccination efforts since the disease still exists in
some parts of the world. People most at risk are those who never had polio vaccine, those who never received all the recommended
vaccine doses, and those traveling to polio endemic countries.
Polio
Salk Institute for Biological
Studies
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is an independent, non-profit,
scientific research institute located in La Jolla,
California.[1] It was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vaccine; among the founding consultants were
Jacob Bronowski and Francis Crick.
Lee Salk
was Jonas Salk’s brother, and married to Mary Jane Salk.
Mary
Jane Salk was married to Lee Salk, dated
Michael R. Bloomberg, a director at the
Doe Fund, and is a trustee at the Salk Institute.
Patrick
A. Bradford was a director at the Doe Fund, and
is a director at the NAACP Legal Defense &
Educational Fund.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the NAACP Legal
Defense & Educational Fund, the Robin Hood
Foundation, and the Harlem Children's Zone.
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open
Society, and a benefactor at the Harlem
Children's Zone.
Cecily
M. Carson was a director at the Doe Fund, and
is a leadership council member for the Robin Hood Foundation.
Michael
R. Bloomberg was a donor for the Robin Hood Foundation,
a benefactor at the Harlem Children's Zone,
dated Mary Jane Salk, the New York (NY) mayor, a donor for the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, and is the founder for the Bloomberg Family Foundation.
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation was a funder for the Global Polio
Eradication Initiative.
Bloomberg
Philanthropies is an umbrella organization for the Bloomberg
Family Foundation, was a funder for the Global Polio
Eradication Initiative.
Bloomberg
Family Foundation was a funder for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, , and the CDC
Foundation.
CDC
Foundation is a foundation for the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
Jeffrey
P. Koplan was a director at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), and is a board member for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Alwaleed
Bin Talal Foundation is a funder for the Global Polio
Eradication Initiative, and was a funder for the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow.
American
Society for Muslim Advancement is a sponsor for the Muslim
Leaders of Tomorrow.
Daisy Khan
is an executive director for the American Society for
Muslim Advancement, married to Feisal Abdul Rauf,
a developer for the Park51, and was
a director at the White House Project.
Park51
Park51 (originally named Cordoba House)
is a planned 13-story Islamic community center in Lower
Manhattan. The majority of the center will be open to the general
public and its proponents have said the center will promote interfaith
dialogue. Plans for the center include a Muslim prayer space which, due to its
location two blocks from the World Trade Center site,[6][7] has
controversially[8][9] been referred to as the "Ground Zero mosque",
though numerous commentators argued that it was neither a mosque nor at Ground
Zero.
Feisal
Abdul Rauf is married to Daisy Khan, a
co-founder for the American Society for
Muslim Advancement, the founder & chairman for the Cordoba Initiative, and a developer for Park51.
Cordoba
Initiative is a sponsor for the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow.
Gara
LaMarche was a director at the White House Project,
an associate director at the Human Rights Watch,
the VP & director of U.S.
programs for the Open Society Foundations, is a
director at the Roosevelt Institute, and a
director at ProPublica.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Human Rights
Watch, and the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank).
George Soros
is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations,
was a benefactor at the Human Rights Watch,
and the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open
Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Human Rights
Watch, the Roosevelt Institute, ProPublica, the Aspen Institute (think
tank), the Committee for Economic
Development, the NAACP Legal Defense &
Educational Fund, and the Robin Hood Foundation.
Beth A.
Brooke was a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank), is a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development, and a director at the White House
Project.
Patrick
A. Bradford is a director at the NAACP Legal Defense &
Educational Fund, and was a director at the Doe Fund.
Cecily
M. Carson is a leadership council member for the Robin Hood
Foundation, and was a director at the Doe Fund.
Mary
Jane Salk was a director at the Doe Fund, married
to Lee Salk, dated Michael R.
Bloomberg, and is a trustee at the Salk
Institute.
Lee Salk
was married to Mary Jane Salk, and Jonas Salk’s brother.
Jonas Salk
was Lee Salk’s brother, and founded the
Salk Institute.
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