Polio and post-polio syndrome

Aid groups in Gaza aim to avert a polio outbreak with a surge of vaccinations

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Aid groups in Gaza aim to avert a polio outbreak with a surge of vaccinations

CAIRO — The threat of polio is rising fast in the Gaza Strip, prompting aid groups to call for an urgent pause in the war so they can ramp up vaccinations and head off a full-blown outbreak. One case has been confirmed, others are suspected and the virus was detected in wastewater in six different … Read more

First case of polio confirmed in a 10-month-old child in Gaza, Palestinian health officials say

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First case of polio confirmed in a 10-month-old child in Gaza, Palestinian health officials say

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian health officials on Friday reported the first case of polio in an unvaccinated 10-month old-child in the Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, the first case in years in the coastal enclave that has been engulfed in the Israel-Hamas war since Oct. 7. After discovering the child’s symptoms, tests were conducted … Read more

Paul Alexander thrived while using an iron lung for decades after contracting polio as a child

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Paul Alexander thrived while using an iron lung for decades after contracting polio as a child

DALLAS — Confined to an iron lung after contracting polio as a child, Paul Alexander managed to train himself to breathe on his own for part of the day, earned a law degree, wrote a book about his life, built a big following on social media and inspired people around the globe with his positive … Read more

Zimbabwe starts an emergency polio vaccination drive after detecting cases caused by a rare mutation

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Zimbabwe starts an emergency polio vaccination drive after detecting cases caused by a rare mutation

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe began an emergency campaign to inoculate more than 4 million children against polio on Tuesday after health authorities detected three cases caused by the rare mutation of the weakened virus used in oral vaccines, including a 10-year-old girl who was paralyzed in January. The health ministry said laboratory tests from samples … Read more

Pakistani officer wounded in attack on polio workers dies, raising bombing death toll to 7

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Pakistani officer wounded in attack on polio workers dies, raising bombing death toll to 7

KHAR, Pakistan — An officer who was critically wounded in a roadside bombing that targeted police assigned to protect polio vaccination workers in northwestern Pakistan died in a hospital on Tuesday, raising the death toll from the attack, claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, to seven. Police said in a statement that at least three officers … Read more

Bomb targeting police assigned for anti-polio campaign kills 6 officers, wounds 10 in NW Pakistan

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Paul Alexander thrived while using an iron lung for decades after contracting polio as a child

A roadside bomb has exploded near a van carrying police assigned to protect workers in an anti-polio immunization campaign in restive northwestern Pakistan, killing at least six officers and wounding 10 others KHAR, Pakistan — A roadside bomb exploded Monday near a van carrying police assigned to protect workers in an anti-polio immunization campaign in … Read more