Truemors
This latest developement in the field of polio research can win one of the last frontirs of polio eradication.Nigeria is one of the four country where polio has yet to be eradicated, 82%of reported case so far this year has been from Nigeria.
An Imperial College London team found a recently introduced polio jab is four times more effective at protecting children than previous vaccines.They say it could eradicate type 1 polio - the most common form - in Nigeria if it reaches enough children.
The study appears in the New England Journal of Medicine.Nigeria is one of only four countries in the world where polio has yet to be eliminated, and 82% of global cases reported so far this year have been in the country.
Polio is highly infectious and it primarily affects children under five years of age. A small minority of infected people develop permanent paralysis, which can be fatal.
The monovalent oral poliovirus vaccine, known as mOPV1, has been used in Nigeria since February 2006 and the number of reported cases of polio in the country fell by 75% between 2006 and 2007.
The latest study shows that just one dose of mOPV1 gives a child in Nigeria a 67% chance of being protected, compared with a 16% chance after receiving the standard trivalent vaccine.
However, the researchers warn that although the monovalent vaccine is proving very effective, many more children need to be immunised if the polio virus is to be eliminated in Nigeria.
In the north west zone of the country, where the majority of new cases are found, 21% of children report never having received a single dose of the vaccine and a further 55% have received fewer than the recommended four doses.
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