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The Gaza Strip recorded its first confirmed case of polio in 25 years, AFP reported today, citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Israel has been fighting the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza for more than a dozen months, and the United Nations is preparing a vaccination campaign against the disease in Gaza, so it called for a halt to the fighting.
Reuters wrote Health workers diagnosed polio in a ten-month-old child from Dajibara city who had never been vaccinated.
Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health Polio epidemic was declared in Julywhich is linked to an ongoing offensive by the Israeli army. The virus that causes the disease has been found in sewage.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today called on all parties to the conflict to provide concrete guarantees for a humanitarian pause. Polio vaccination campaigns can be carried out in Gaza during this period.
“Let’s be clear: The best polio vaccine is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” he noted. “It is impossible to carry out polio vaccination campaigns when war is raging everywhere,” the UN chief added.
The United Nations wants to vaccinate children under the age of ten. At least 95 percent of children in this group need to receive two doses of vaccination, according to the world body. Guterres said that for the campaign to succeed, it is necessary to ensure the transportation of vaccines and refrigeration equipment, access to Gaza for disease experts, and reliable internet and telephone services.
Poliomyelitis (poliomyelitis) is a highly contagious viral infectious disease that affects the nervous system and can cause paralysis of the limbs. The greatest risk is to children under five. In most parts of the world, the disease has been eradicated through vaccination. However, in recent years, it has reappeared in some African countries, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.
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