RIDE TO END POLIO

In 1985 Rotary had a vision to eradicate of polio from the world. At the time there were over 1000 cases of paralytic polio every day across the globe.  Their vision began a world-wide health initiative. Partnering with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the Center for Disease Control and later, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, this partnership became known as the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.  This partnership has brought the crippling disease to less than 60 cases in 2015.  Polio is now endemic in only two countries in the world: Pakistan and Afghanistan.  In the last 3 years two countries have been taken off this list as Nigeria and India became polio free.

Polio is spread through person-to-person contact. When a child is infected with wild poliovirus, the virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. It is then shed into the environment through the feces where it can spread rapidly through a community, especially in situations of poor hygiene and sanitation. If a sufficient number of children are fully immunized against polio, the virus is unable to find susceptible children to infect, and dies out. Most people infected with the poliovirus have no signs of illness and are never aware they have been infected. These symptomless people carry the virus in their intestines and can “silently” spread the infection to thousands of others before the first case of polio paralysis emerges. For this reason, WHO considers a single confirmed case of polio paralysis to be evidence of an epidemic – particularly in countries where very few cases occur.

Most infected people (90%) have no symptoms or very mild symptoms and usually go unrecognized. In others, initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, and stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis, usually in the legs.

There is no cure for polio, only treatment to alleviate the symptoms.  Heat and physical therapy is used to stimulate the muscles and antispasmodic drugs are given to relax the muscles. While this can improve mobility, it cannot reverse permanent polio paralysis.

Polio can be prevented through immunization. Polio vaccine, given multiple times, almost always protects a child for life.

With polio only inches away from real eradication in the world, Rotary continues to work with the GPEI partners as a fund raising and advocacy group, spreading the word and raising funds to keep the project working.  More information is available at www.endpolio.org.