In Israel, the first case of polio in more than 30 years was detected in a three-year-old girl who was NOT vaccinated against the virus.
- A three-year-old Israeli girl contracted polio, the first such case in the country since 1988.
- The girl has not been vaccinated, officials said, although she is still in the appropriate window to receive the vaccine.
- Where she got infected and whether she spread it, officials have not established.
- Cases of polio outside of Afghanistan and Pakistan are rare, as the virus has been largely under control in recent decades.
A three-year-old girl in Jerusalem, Israel, has become the first case of polio in a Middle Eastern country in more than 30 years, according to local authorities.
The girl, who has not been named by the Jerusalem District Health Bureau, has not been vaccinated against the virus, which has largely been eradicated worldwide thanks to widely available vaccines.
This is the first Israeli case of the potentially debilitating virus since 1988. Officials have not yet determined the origin of the infection or whether she passed it on to anyone else.
Polio infection can be catastrophic, causing the infected person to become paralyzed. Vaccines are widely available, although the virus remains a problem in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
A three-year-old unvaccinated girl from Israel contracted polio. This is the first confirmed case in the country since 1988 (file photo).
The case of a young girl was reported to local health authorities after she experienced symptoms of paralysis, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The spokesman said the case was likely vaccine-derived polio, which is a mutation of the strain used for the oral polio vaccine distributed around the world.
The little girl has not yet been vaccinated. In Israel, children are encouraged to get vaccinated as early as possible, although the recommendation period does not end until the age of seven.
Whether the girl’s parents planned to vaccinate her in the future is not reported.
Although this is the first confirmed case of polio in the country since 1988, the virus has been found in sewage, meaning there has been an unnoticed spread.
Polio eradication has been a challenge for health officials for decades, but their efforts have met with great success.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the virus has been around since “ancient times,” citing records that the ancient Egyptians knew about the disease and its accompanying paralysis.
The prevalence of polio has declined significantly in recent decades since the introduction of a vaccine in the 1950s.
Polio has been around since ancient times, but has been largely controlled in recent years thanks to the advent of an effective vaccine in the 1950s. This remains a problem in much of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pictured: Pakistani children receive oral polio vaccine
The World Health Organization is prioritizing polio eradication, which may not be possible at the moment.
The virus has reached an endemic phase in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, and while not as devastating as in previous years, its rapid spread makes it difficult to control.
It is often spread through feces that contaminate water or other food or drink that enters a person’s mouth.
It can also be spread through person-to-person contact.
In the most severe cases, the virus enters the human central nervous system and causes paralysis.
There has not been a single case of polio in the United States since 1979, and almost all children in the country receive the virus vaccine at an early age.