Title: Polio Declared a Public Health Emergency

Category: International EM

Keywords: Polio, Vaccine, Eradication (PubMed Search)

Posted: 5/7/2014 by Andrea Tenner, MD

General Information:

Previously, polio had been decreasing in incidence and nearing worldwide eradication.
From 2012 to 2013, the incidence doubled from 223 to 403 cases, and is anticipated to be higher in 2014 (May and June are the highest transmission months).
The WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on Monday (5/5/14).
Polio has been transmitted across international borders by travelers and is still circulating within endemic areas.
In addition to improving vaccination within these countries, the public health emergency calls for all travelers from these countries to complete a polio vaccine series and travel with vaccination records.

Relevance to the EM Physician:

Previously unvaccinated travelers should be given a 3-dose polio vaccine series.
If a traveler has completed the 3-dose series in the past, the CDC recommends one single lifetime booster dose of inactivated polio virus (IPV).

Bottom Line:

Polio is increasing in incidence in 10 countries: Syria, Pakistan, Cameroon, Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Somalia and Nigeria.
For those who received an IPV series as a child, a single IPV booster is recommended for travelers to those countries to assure lifelong immunity.

University of Maryland Section of Global Emergency Health

Author: Jenny Reifel Saltzberg, MD