A test of the poliovirus endgame
The global withdrawal of the Sabin type 2 poliovirus vaccine is a test of the feasibility of the plan, declared by the World Health Assembly in 1988, to eradicate all polioviruses.
cVDPV
Papua New Guinea is no longer polio-free
Last week we discussed the case of polio in Venezuela that turned out not to be polio. Unfortunately the same cannot be concluded about a bona fide case of polio in Papua New Guinea. Surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) revealed a 6 year old boy in Papua New Guinea with lower limb weakness on …
From trivalent to bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine
For the first time since April of 1955, recipients of poliovirus vaccine will no longer receive all three serotypes. This past Sunday the World Health Organization orchestrated a synchronized switch from trivalent to bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) in 150 countries. The reason for the switch is clear: type 2 poliovirus was declared eradicated last year, and the …
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The switch from trivalent to bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine: Will it lead to polio?
In four months, 155 countries will together switch from using trivalent to bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine. Will this change lead to more cases of poliomyelitis? There are three serotypes of poliovirus, each of which can cause paralytic poliomyelitis. The Sabin oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV), which has been used globally by WHO in the eradication effort, is …
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Virologists, start your poliovirus destruction!
I have worked on poliovirus for over thirty-six years, first as a posdoctoral fellow with David Baltimore in 1979, and then in my laboratory at Columbia University. The end of that research commences this year with the destruction of my stocks of polioviruses. In 2015 there were 70 reported cases of poliomyelitis caused by wild …