At the start of European Immunization Week, the ECDC report “Poliomyelitis situation update” reveals that between 2012 and 2021, approximately 2.4 million children in the EU/EEA may have not received three doses of polio-containing vaccines on time. Additionally, the newly published ECDC “Measles Annual Epidemiological Report 2022” highlights the risks when having pockets of an under-vaccinated population or groups not immunised at all.
Immediate health needs following earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria are mostly related to trauma and the disruption of healthcare, however, infectious disease threats may be concerning in the following two to four weeks.
Globally, as of 9 August, 19 cases of polio due to wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) and 223 cases due to circulating vaccine derived poliovirus (cVDPV) have been reported this year. In 2022, the cVDPV cases have been reported in 15 countries, with 93% of the cases attributed to cVDPV type 2 (cVDPV2).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one EU/EEA country (Romania) and two neighbouring countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ukraine) remain at high risk of a sustained polio outbreak partly due to insufficient vaccination coverage.
In 2019, the hajj will take place between 9 and 14 August. The risk for EU/EEA citizens to become infected with communicable diseases during the 2019 hajj is considered low, thanks to the vaccination requirements for travelling to Makkah (Mecca) and the Saudi Arabian preparedness plans that address the management of health hazards during and after hajj.
As of 3 October, wild-type poliovirus 1 (WPV1) was still being isolated in wastewater treatment plants across the country with some areas indicating an inconsistent or discontinued detection. However, no new sites in Israel with WPV1 in sewage were detected since the start of the bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) immunisation campaign, according to personal communication from the Ministry of Health in Israel.