Tehran – In line with the winter-kicked-off polio eradication campaign, roughly 300,000 children under the age of five are vaccinated in two stages in high-risk regions in the northern half of the country, according to the Ministry of Health.
Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that has a major impact on children under the age of 5. The virus is transmitted primarily through oral fecal routes or by human-to-person spread, spread by common vehicles (such as contaminated water or food), and grows in the intestines, which can enter the nervous system in the intestine and cause paralysis.
It can be prevented through vaccinations. The development of effective vaccines to prevent paralytic polio was one of the major medical breakthroughs of the 20th century. Polio vaccines have been given many times and most often provide lifelong protection for children.
In the current year of Iran, which began on March 20th, the first phase will be held from April 12th to 14th, while the second phase will be held from June 17th to 19th, the Ministry of Health reported.
The polio eradication camp is one of the amazing achievements of the Ministry of Health. Supplemental vaccination campaigns to eradicate polio in Iran began in 1994. Thanks to the campaign, the country has been polio-free since 2000.
However, endemic transmission of wild polioviruses remains common in two Iranian neighbours, namely Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2024, the number of poliovirus positive tests in the wild in Afghanistan and Pakistan increased four and 12 times, respectively, compared to 2023.
To prevent the outbreak of disease in the country, the annual door-to-door polio vaccination campaign was carried out in two phases in the previous Iranian calendar year, ending March 20, targeting children under the age of five in high-risk regions in the southern part of the country at one-month intervals.
The first phase was held from January 4th to 6th, and the second phase began on February 15th and ended on February 17th. During the campaign, approximately 840,000 Iranian and foreign children under the age of five were immunized by the medical colleges of Cistan Balchestan, Kelman, Faazu, Hormozgan, Bushel, Yazdded Cistan Balchestan, Hormozgan and Hormozgan.
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