A child is pictured receiving a polio vaccine. Submitted photo

The Rotary Club of Jamestown is celebrating World Polio Day today to raise awareness, money and support to end polio, a vaccine-preventable disease that still threatens children in parts of the world today.

Poliomyelitis, or polio, is a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in some parts of the world. Poliovirus invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in hours. It can strike people of any age but mainly affects children under five. Polio can be prevented by vaccines, but it is not curable. Unlike most diseases, polio can be eradicated.

For more than 30 years, Rotary and its partners have driven the effort to eradicate polio all around the world. Rotary’s PolioPlus program was the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication by vaccinating children on a massive scale. Continuing on as a core partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary focuses on advocacy, fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and awareness-building.

Rotary members all over the world have contributed $1.9 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries from polio. Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than $8 billion to the effort.

The Rotary Club of Jamestown itself has contributed more than $153,500 to the efforts to eradicate polio from the globe.

The first descriptions of the disease were noted in 1789, and in 1840, Jacob Heine described the clinical features of the disease in addition to its involvement of the spinal cord. The first outbreak of polio in epidemic form in the U.S. occurred in Vermont in 1894, with 132 cases.

The polio virus usually enters the environment in the feces of someone who is infected. In areas of poor sanitation, the virus easily spreads from feces into the water supply, or, by touch, into food or water. In addition, polio is so contagious, direct contact with a person infected with the virus can cause polio. Most often, it has affected children five and under. Those who were young children in the early 1950s remember our parents telling children not to jump in piles of leaves lining the street gutters in the fall, thinking that the virus may linger there.

Flu-like symptoms, which could last for up to 10 days could simply go away (abortive polio) or develop into paralytic polio which causes loss of reflexes, severe muscle aches or weakness and loose and floppy limbs (flaccid paralysis). Many of these cases required iron lungs to assist the patient in breathing or resulted in paralysis needing crutches, walkers or wheelchairs.

Today, polio can be prevented by vaccination. Most children in the United States receive four doses of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) at two months, four months, between 6 and 18 months and between 4 and 6 years of age when children are just entering school. This inoculation series will give a lifetime of protection against the disease.

With its worldwide partners, Rotary International has reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent, from 350,000 cases in 125 countries in 1988 to 33 cases caused by the wild virus in 2018. Only two countries continue to report cases of wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan. The infrastructure built to end polio is also being used to treat and prevent other diseases and create lasting impact in other areas of public health.

Rotary and its partners have made progress against polio, but eliminating all cases is going to take even more progress and perseverance. Afghanistan and Pakistan face unique challenges, including political insecurity, highly mobile populations, difficult terrain, and, in some instances, logistical barriers. As long as a single child remains infected with the poliovirus, children in all countries are at risk of contracting the disease. A case of polio remains only one airline flight away. The poliovirus can easily be imported into a polio-free country and failure to eradicate polio could result in as many as 200,000 new cases every year, and within 10 years, all over the world.

The polio cases represented by the remaining one percent are the most difficult to prevent however, with sufficient resources, the commitment of national governments, and innovations that improve access to remote areas, Rotary is optimistic that its forces can eliminate polio.

Rotary has committed to raising $50 million per year for polio eradication. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match that two-to-one for a total commitment of $150 million each year. The money provides operational support, medical workers, laboratory equipment and educational materials. Governments, corporations and private donors all play a role in funding.

More than one million Rotary members have donated their time and money to eradicate polio, and every year, hundreds of Rotarians work alongside health workers to vaccinate children in countries affected by polio. Rotary members work with UNICEF and other partners to prepare and distribute informational materials for people in areas that are isolated by conflict, geography, or poverty. They also mobilize to recruit fellow volunteers, assist in transporting the vaccine, and provide other logistical support.

There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented. The polio vaccine, given multiple times, can protect a child for life. To donate, contact a local Rotary Club or visit www.EndPolioNow.org.