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Wed, Nov 20, 2024 | Jumada al-Awwal 19, 1446 | DXB
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Gaza records first case of polio; virus detected in 10-month-old child
The UN chief warned that the virus has spread and hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza are now vulnerable to infection
Palestinian children carrying empty containers walk near stagnant wastewater, on their way to a food distribution point in Deir Al Balah in the central Gaza Strip. — Photo: AFP file
An unvaccinated 10-month-old child was diagnosed with polio in the southern Gaza city of Deir Al Balah — in what is considered the first case of the virus in the war-torn enclave, the Palestinian health officials announced.
Doctors suspected that the newborn exhibited symptoms identical to those of polio. Tests conducted in Amman confirmed that the newborn contracted a strain of vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV), the health ministry said in a statement published by the Palestinian News and Information Agency (Wafa).
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In the same advisory, the ministry said a polio vaccination campaign will be carried out in the next few days targeting children under 10 years old.
Palestine has secured 1.2 million type 2 polio vaccine doses in coordination with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and work is underway to secure 400,000 doses, it added.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres called for humanitarian pauses to make way for a polio vaccine campaign after the virus was detected in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Speaking at a Press conference in New York, Guterres appealed to all parties to provide concrete assurances of a humanitarian pause right away, reiterating that "the ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire".
"A polio pause is a must. It is impossible to conduct a polio vaccination campaign with war raging all over," he said.
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