Second polio vaccination campaign in Zim begins

By Staff Reporter The second round of the national polio vaccination campaign begins today with the Health and Child Care Ministry anticipating to vaccinate over 4 million children. Polio is a dangerous disease that can cause paralysis or death of children. The Health Ministry in collaboration with UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), and many partners last month started the nationwide polio vaccination campaign using the novel OPV type two (nOPV2) vaccine following the confirmation of circulating poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) in Zimbabwe. The two phased campaign aims to…

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Facts About Vaccine Derived-Polio Virus Circulating In Zimbabwe

By Michael Gwarisa In November 2023, Zimbabwe’s environmental surveillance system picked a vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV) strain, circulating in the sewage system in Harare’s high density suburbs namely Budiriro, Mbare and Mufakose.  A similar variant was detected in a 10-year-old child from Sanyati District in Mashonaland, West Province. The child has since developed paralysis following the Polio infection. Two other children in Mbare have had the same strain detected in them despite the absence of paralysis developing in either of them. Over the past few days, the Ministry of…

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