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Iran Saves 116,000 Lives Per
Year From Cancer
 | Iran didn't mass innoculate for polio and has a
cancer mortality rate of 53.2, which is one quarter of the US rate of 221.3. |
| With a population of 69 million, failure to mass
innoculate for polio saves 116,000 lives per year from cancer. |
| 100% mass innoculation for polio would cause 91 cases
of paralytic polio, per the CDC. |
| 16 reported cases of paralytic polio in 1999 was a
rate of .023 per 100,000 population, which is a fifth of the rate of polio caused by the
vaccine (0.13 per 100k). |
Disease outbreaks
reported
24 September 1999
Polio in Iraq
Since May 10 1999, 16
cases of paralytic poliomyelitis, confirmed by isolation of wild poliovirus type 1 have
occurred in nine of 15 central / southern governorates of Iraq. As of September 20,
there were an additional 9 cases with isolation of poliovirus type 1 pending intratypic
differentiation, as well as 10 cases with onset of paralysis in August, pending virus
isolation results. These findings indicate widespread transmission of wild poliovirus in
Iraq, where wild poliovirus type 1 was last isolated from a case each in Ninevah and Wasit
governorates with onset in April and May 1997, respectively. The outbreak presents a
serious challenge to the polio eradication initiative in Iraq, and threatens
re-introduction of virus in neighbouring countries, especially Islamic Republic of Iran,
Jordan, Syrian Arab Republic and Turkey.
Nine of 16 wild-virus confirmed cases (onset
May to July) belong to nomadic cattle-herding families, while most cases reported since
August are among children of resident families. Fourteen of 16 (88%) wild-virus confirmed
cases are 2 years of age or younger, and 11 of 16 cases (69%) had either no previous oral
polio vaccine dose (9/16) or were incompletely immunized (2/16). Factors contributing to
this outbreak are declining routine immunization coverage in many areas, as well as
insufficient National Immunization Day (NID) coverage in south and central governorates,
especially among high-risk populations.
To respond to this outbreak and to interrupt
wild poliovirus transmission, Iraq has decided to conduct two rounds of NIDs targeting
children aged < 5 yrs in early October and early November 1999. Two rounds of NIDs will
follow these in the spring of 2000. To assure that all children in high-risk populations
are covered, existing NID plans at governorate and district level (microplanning) will be
revised, where necessary. Also, acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance at major
hospitals and other facilities likely to see children with acute paralysis has been
enhanced.
For more information, visit the web site on the global eradication of poliomyelitis.
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