The discovery of polio in two children in Ukraine's westernmost Zakarpattya Oblast is causing concern, marking the country’s first cases of the paralytic disease in nine years.
One child was 4 years old and the other 10 months old at the time of onset of paralysis, according to the World Health Organization, taking place on June 30 and July 7, respectively. Both children had not been vaccinated against polio.
The WHO blames the low vaccination rate in Ukraine against poliomyelitis, the viral disease that can affect nerves and lead to partial or full paralysis. In 2014, only 50 percent of Ukrainian children were fully immunized against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases, the international institution reported on Sept. 1 in an online statement.
Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus, which is spread by direct person-to-person contact, contact with infected mucus or phlegm from the nose or mouth or contact with infected feces.
“WHO and UNICEF are supporting the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in conducting an urgent, robust response,” the WHO said.
The two polio incidents took place in difference cities located 30 kilometers from each other and were successfully contained, Health Minister Alexander Kvitashvili said at a briefing on Sept. 1.
He also said that there is enough polio vaccines to cover the entire nation.
The WHO’s representative in Ukraine, Dorit Nitsan, warned the Ukrainian Health Ministry that an epidemic is still possible. This year’s polio vaccination rate in Ukraine among children aged 1-year-old is only 14.1 percent.
The WHO advises giving oral vaccines.
“The WHO currently assesses the risk of international spread from Ukraine to be low, but notes that the infected oblast shares borders with four countries (Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland),” reads the group’s statement.
In recent years, the poliovirus was diagnosed in Afghanistan, Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Somalia. The European Union declared itself polio-free in 2002.
