Polio virus re-outbreaks in the US, UK, Israel… due to the delayed vaccination program after two years of the pandemic, people’s apprehension towards vaccines.
However, according to world scientists, including David Heymann, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the detection of the virus in waste remains a wake-up call to parents, an important message that motivates people to get vaccinated.
Polio, a deadly disease that has left tens of thousands of children unable to walk each year, is breaking out in London, New York and Jerusalem for decades, raising concerns among experts.
The disease terrified parents around the world in the first half of the 20th century.
The virus affects mainly children under 5 years of age.
The disease is usually asymptomatic, but some people present with fever and vomiting.
About one in 200 cases of the virus can lead to irreversible paralysis, up to 10% of patients die.
There is currently no effective treatment for polio, but since scientists launched a vaccine in 1950, the disease is completely preventable.