1Kabul University of Medical Sciences, Kabul, Afghanistan.
2Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020 Oct;103(4):1367-1369. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-1010.
Polio is a deadly viral disease that has been paralyzing many children in Afghanistan. Despite fundamental efforts, primarily vaccination, to reduce the number of cases in Afghanistan, there are still many children who are deprived of the vaccine every year. Afghanistan is one of the two remaining countries endemic for polio, and the country has undergone various challenges that have hampered the eradication of this disease. The underlying challenges include inaccessibility of unsecured areas, illiteracy, refusal, and, most recently, COVID-19. The country is in the midst of a battle against COVID-19, and polio has almost entirely been neglected. Sadly, polio cases are increasing in the country, particularly in polio-free provinces. After an initial lockdown, many businesses have been allowed to resume, but the mass polio vaccination campaign has not restarted. New cases of polio will surge if endemic regions remain unvaccinated or inaccessible. To curb the further spread of polio, Afghanistan needs to resume nationwide house-to-house vaccination as restrictions due to COVID-19 are loosened.
脊髓灰质炎是一种致命的病毒性疾病，它已经使阿富汗的许多儿童瘫痪。尽管阿富汗做出了包括接种疫苗在内的主要努力来减少病例数量，但每年仍有许多儿童无法接种疫苗。阿富汗是仅剩的两个脊髓灰质炎地方性流行国家之一，该国面临着各种阻碍消灭这种疾病的挑战。这些挑战包括不安全地区难以到达、文盲、拒绝接种疫苗，以及最近的 COVID-19 疫情。该国正处于与 COVID-19 的斗争中，脊髓灰质炎几乎完全被忽视。可悲的是，该国的脊髓灰质炎病例正在增加，特别是在无脊髓灰质炎的省份。在最初的封锁之后，许多企业已被允许恢复运营，但大规模的脊髓灰质炎疫苗接种运动尚未重启。如果地方性流行地区仍未接种疫苗或无法到达，新的脊髓灰质炎病例将激增。为了遏制脊髓灰质炎的进一步传播，阿富汗需要在 COVID-19 限制放宽后恢复全国范围的逐户接种。
