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Poliomyelitis is an acute enteroviral infection. It affects mostly children under the age of 5 and in its most severe form the disease may result in permanent paralysis.
Since the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was launched in 1988, the incidence of polio has fallen by more than 99.9%, an estimated 16 million people today are walking who would otherwise have been paralysed by the disease, and more than 1.5 million people are alive, whose lives would otherwise have been lost. World Polio day aims to celebrate this achievement and focus on the aim of eradicating polio.
The disease is still endemic in 3 countries; Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. Until poliovirus transmission is interrupted in these countries, all countries remain at risk of importation of polio, in particular vulnerable countries with weak public health and immunisation programmes and travel or trade links to endemic countries.
The polio cases represented by the remaining one percent are the most difficult to prevent, due to factors including geographical isolation, poor public infrastructure, armed conflict and cultural barriers.
Polio virus spreads rapidly amongst unimmunised populations. As long as a single child remains infected, there is the potential for spread to all other countries.
Ensure British Vaccination Schedule up to date/complete.
Travellers should be aware that the disease still persists in some regions of the world and unvaccinated individuals are susceptible to this severe infection.
Check the most recent advice for the countries to be visited.
Practice good food/water hygiene whilst travelling.
Vaccination should be considered under the following circumstances and is dependent on the individual risk assessment:
Individuals with an incomplete vaccination history for polio, irrespective of region of travel.
Travellers to endemic countries or countries reporting outbreaks (see individual country pages for further information).
