{"id":458,"date":"2017-10-24T08:51:14","date_gmt":"2017-10-24T07:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/?p=458"},"modified":"2018-07-26T13:59:01","modified_gmt":"2018-07-26T12:59:01","slug":"world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/","title":{"rendered":"World Polio Day: edging closer to eradication"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

As we mark the fifth annual World Polio Day<\/a>,\u00a0Dr\u00a0Edward Parker talks about Imperial’s research supports\u00a0the polio eradication initiative in a number of ways.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Imagine you are running a marathon. You have reached the final mile of a long and arduous journey. You turn the last corner expecting to see the finish line, and instead you see a huge vertical ascent. The finish line is waiting at the top, hundreds of metres above you.<\/p>\n

Such is the plight of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative<\/a>. In 1988, the year the initiative was launched, polio paralysed an estimated 350,000 people worldwide \u2013 roughly 1,000 each day. Over the last three decades, a globally coordinated vaccination campaign has fought the disease back to a few remaining refuges in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria. In 2017, wild poliovirus has caused just 12 cases so far.<\/p>\n

As we mark the fifth annual World Polio Day<\/a>, the finish line of the eradication marathon is firmly in sight, but getting there will be a tough climb.<\/p>\n

Why has polio proven so hard to vanquish? First and foremost, the disease\u2019s final strongholds are regions of immense political unrest, and news of deadly attacks against vaccination workers are all too familiar. Every step towards polio\u2019s eradication is one that requires those at the front line to put their lives at risk.<\/p>\n

Compounding this are a wide range of biological obstacles. Polio is a stealthy adversary, causing symptoms only once in every 200 infections. Any cases we see are only the tip of the iceberg \u2013 a problematic scenario when eradication is on the agenda.<\/p>\n

There are also several key weaknesses to one of our main weapons against polio \u2013 the oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). The vaccine is less effective in impoverished countries where it is needed most, meaning more doses are needed to halt the spread of polio. On very rare occasions, the vaccine virus can also revert to a form that is capable of causing paralysis. To remove the risk of vaccine-derived cases, eventually we need to stop using OPV \u2013 the very vaccine that has brought us to the brink of eradication. The global introduction of the injected polio vaccine, almost complete, sets the scene for this transition.<\/p>\n

At Imperial\u2019s Vaccine Epidemiology Research Group<\/a>, our research supports the polio eradication initiative in a number of ways.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Professor Nick Grassly testing sewage water during environment surveillance in India.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For several years, Professor Nick Grassly<\/a> and I have been working with researchers at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, to identify why OPV is less effective in low-income countries. We have looked at a wide array of factors: intestinal bacteria and viruses, breastfeeding, growth, sex, demography, and others. Increasingly, we have exploited advances in genetic sequencing methods to examine the complex community of microorganisms that make up the gut microbiome.<\/p>\n

The picture is complex, but certain patterns are becoming clear. For example, infants infected with enteroviruses (a group of viruses that are related to polio) at the time of vaccination are much less likely to respond to OPV. We are now trying to decipher the changes in the infant immune system that might be responsible for this.<\/p>\n

Dr Isobel Blake<\/a> is a Research Fellow working on the environmental surveillance of poliovirus. Because polio can spread from person to person without causing symptoms, the absence of cases is not a reliable indicator of whether the virus has truly disappeared. With this in mind, there has been a swift increase in the testing of sewage samples for polioviruses over the last few years. Isobel uses surveillance data analysis and mathematical models to answer a number of questions: where are the best locations to test for polioviruses? How sensitive is environmental surveillance for detecting polio transmission? And what is the best way to respond if polio is detected?<\/p>\n

Other work by Dr Margarita Pons-Salort<\/a> has used mathematical models of polio to understand how the risk of vaccine-derived outbreaks can be minimised during the process of withdrawing OPV. Meanwhile, Natalia Molodecky has focused on identifying the factors that contribute to the persistence of polio in high-risk settings such as Pakistan. Their findings have been used by the World Health Organization to help plan optimal vaccination strategies.<\/p>\n

We can only hope that these efforts will help eliminate polio once and for all. The global eradication campaign has been a long and difficult one, with many set back along the way. But the finish line is in sight.<\/p>\n

Dr\u00a0Edward Parker is a Research Associate in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology<\/a> in Imperial\u2019s School of Public Health. His work focuses on the causes of impaired oral vaccine performance in low-income countries, with an emphasis on the potential contribution of the gut microbiome to this phenomenon.<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Edward’s research is funded by the\u00a0Medical Research Council<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we mark the fifth annual World Polio Day,\u00a0Dr\u00a0Edward Parker talks about Imperial’s research supports\u00a0the polio eradication initiative in a number of ways. Imagine you are running a marathon. You have reached the final mile of a long and arduous journey. You turn the last corner expecting to see the finish line, and instead you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1148,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[226],"tags":[269918,248146,272426,269809],"class_list":["post-458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-school-of-public-health","tag-epidemiology","tag-infectious-disease","tag-polio","tag-vaccination"],"yoast_head":"\nWorld Polio Day: edging closer to eradication - Imperial Medicine Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As we mark the fifth annual World Polio Day,\u00a0Dr\u00a0Edward Parker talks about Imperial's research supports\u00a0the polio eradication initiative in a number of ways.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"World Polio Day: edging closer to eradication - Imperial Medicine Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we mark the fifth annual World Polio Day,\u00a0Dr\u00a0Edward Parker talks about Imperial's research supports\u00a0the polio eradication initiative in a number of ways.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Imperial Medicine Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-24T07:51:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-07-26T12:59:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2017\/10\/poliolead.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Edward Parker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Edward Parker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Edward Parker\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/f3ff52bf7a5195fd86631aa7c4759d56\"},\"headline\":\"World Polio Day: edging closer to eradication\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-24T07:51:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-07-26T12:59:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/\"},\"wordCount\":812,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2017\/10\/poliolead.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Epidemiology\",\"Infectious disease\",\"Polio\",\"Vaccination\"],\"articleSection\":[\"School of Public Health\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/\",\"name\":\"World Polio Day: edging closer to eradication - Imperial Medicine Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2017\/10\/poliolead.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-24T07:51:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-07-26T12:59:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/f3ff52bf7a5195fd86631aa7c4759d56\"},\"description\":\"As we mark the fifth annual World Polio Day,\u00a0Dr\u00a0Edward Parker talks about Imperial's research supports\u00a0the polio eradication initiative in a number of ways.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2017\/10\/poliolead.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2017\/10\/poliolead.jpg\",\"width\":1181,\"height\":669},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/\",\"name\":\"Imperial Medicine Blog\",\"description\":\"Stories from Imperial's Faculty of Medicine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/f3ff52bf7a5195fd86631aa7c4759d56\",\"name\":\"Edward Parker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9f77089b42432406b9da5c2da17e09fb64a353be6841bb6ee8ddf646397aec57?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9f77089b42432406b9da5c2da17e09fb64a353be6841bb6ee8ddf646397aec57?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9f77089b42432406b9da5c2da17e09fb64a353be6841bb6ee8ddf646397aec57?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Edward Parker\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/author\/epp11\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"World Polio Day: edging closer to eradication - Imperial Medicine Blog","description":"As we mark the fifth annual World Polio Day,\u00a0Dr\u00a0Edward Parker talks about Imperial's research supports\u00a0the polio eradication initiative in a number of ways.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"World Polio Day: edging closer to eradication - Imperial Medicine Blog","og_description":"As we mark the fifth annual World Polio Day,\u00a0Dr\u00a0Edward Parker talks about Imperial's research supports\u00a0the polio eradication initiative in a number of ways.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/","og_site_name":"Imperial Medicine Blog","article_published_time":"2017-10-24T07:51:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-07-26T12:59:01+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2017\/10\/poliolead.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Edward Parker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Edward Parker","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/"},"author":{"name":"Edward Parker","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/f3ff52bf7a5195fd86631aa7c4759d56"},"headline":"World Polio Day: edging closer to eradication","datePublished":"2017-10-24T07:51:14+00:00","dateModified":"2018-07-26T12:59:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/"},"wordCount":812,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2017\/10\/poliolead.jpg","keywords":["Epidemiology","Infectious disease","Polio","Vaccination"],"articleSection":["School of Public Health"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/","name":"World Polio Day: edging closer to eradication - Imperial Medicine Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2017\/10\/poliolead.jpg","datePublished":"2017-10-24T07:51:14+00:00","dateModified":"2018-07-26T12:59:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/f3ff52bf7a5195fd86631aa7c4759d56"},"description":"As we mark the fifth annual World Polio Day,\u00a0Dr\u00a0Edward Parker talks about Imperial's research supports\u00a0the polio eradication initiative in a number of ways.","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/2017\/10\/24\/world-polio-day-edging-closer-to-eradication\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2017\/10\/poliolead.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/files\/2017\/10\/poliolead.jpg","width":1181,"height":669},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/","name":"Imperial Medicine Blog","description":"Stories from Imperial's Faculty of Medicine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/f3ff52bf7a5195fd86631aa7c4759d56","name":"Edward Parker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9f77089b42432406b9da5c2da17e09fb64a353be6841bb6ee8ddf646397aec57?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9f77089b42432406b9da5c2da17e09fb64a353be6841bb6ee8ddf646397aec57?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9f77089b42432406b9da5c2da17e09fb64a353be6841bb6ee8ddf646397aec57?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Edward Parker"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/author\/epp11\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pg9uH0-7o","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1376,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458\/revisions\/1376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}