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October 28, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Polio Eradication Impossible, Doctors Told"

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (www.ajc.com) (10/27/02) P. 19A; McKenna, M.A.J.

Dr. D.A. Henderson, a senior U.S. health official who led the global campaign to eliminate smallpox two decades ago, said Saturday that efforts to eradicate polio worldwide should be stopped because the goal is not possible, and he suggested the resumption of routine immunization against the disease.  The polio eradication effort is led by the World Health Organization

(WHO) and organized and largely funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Dr. Walt Orenstein, director of the CDC's national immunization program and chairman of a WHO polio advisory group, says there has been great progress and that the effort should not stop.  The eradication campaign began in 1988, and by the end of last year, the disease's presence in countries had dropped from 125 to 10--and the CDC hopes that the total will be down to five nations by December.  Setbacks include unexpected outbreaks and the discovery that those with impaired immune systems can sometimes permanently harbor and transmit the virus, and the weakened virus used in the oral vaccine has mutated at least once; the virus has also been recreated in the lab, suggesting that it can never be truly eliminated.  Henderson recommended continuing routine vaccination, but reduced spending for international surveillance and nationwide immunization campaigns in developing nations.

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