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Preventing Polio

By Andrea Delbanco

Last Tuesday, children across†Indonesia swallowed small drops of a vaccine that could save their lives. It was the second big push in the nation's effort to stop the spread of polio.

Polio used to be a dreaded illness worldwide, especially for children. The disease attacks the spine and the brain. The highly contagious polio virus is spread in contaminated water and food. Most infected people come down with something like the flu, but about one in every 200 gets a case that results in paralysis or even death.

The vaccine that prevents polio was invented in 1955. By 2001, world health officials thought they were on the verge of wiping out the disease. But a new outbreak has them concerned. In Indonesia, 239 children under age 5 have been infected since March. The disease has shown up in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia as well. Fearing that this new outbreak could explode into an epidemic, health officials quickly put together an aggressive campaign to protect children from polio.

Stopping the Spread
Many areas of Indonesia are poor and lack clean water or basic medical supplies. Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the world, and its people are spread out over 6,000 islands. Last week, police and army officers helped deliver the vaccine by boat, plane and even bicycle.

The first round of vaccinations began in August. Nearly 750,000 health workers and volunteers set up 245,000 vaccination stations. The drops were given in schools, at bus stations and in temporary clinics all over the country.

The vaccine is safe, but rumors that it was dangerous kept some parents from bringing their kids to the vaccination stations. Still, the first two rounds of the effort went well. Now, 95% of Indonesia's children under age 5 are vaccinated.

"We hope we reached a lot of the children we needed to reach," said Claire Hajaj of UNICEF's polio program. Officials are considering a third round in November to help make the country polio free.

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