Connect
MJA
MJA

The risks of medical complacency towards poliomyelitis

Meryta May, David Durrheim, Jason A Roberts and Rhonda Owen
Med J Aust 2020; 213 (2): . || doi: 10.5694/mja2.50681
Published online: 6 July 2020

Australia needs to improve vigilance in the global endeavour to eradicate poliomyelitis

In 1988, there were over 350 000 cases of paralytic poliomyelitis globally.1 In 2018, there were 29 cases and in 2019 there were 112 cases2 — all in the only two remaining countries in the world where wild poliovirus (WPV) is endemic (Afghanistan and Pakistan). We are tantalisingly close to global eradication.


  • 1 Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology, Brisbane, QLD
  • 2 Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service, Brisbane, QLD
  • 3 Hunter New England Health, Newcastle, NSW
  • 4 Hunter Medical Research Institute, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW
  • 5 Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Melbourne, VIC
  • 6 Australian Government Department of Health, Canberra, ACT


Correspondence: meryta_may@snp.com.au

Acknowledgements: 

We thank David Isaacs and Bruce Thorley for their assistance in providing relevant information for this manuscript.

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

Author

remove_circle_outline Delete Author
add_circle_outline Add Author

Comment
Do you have any competing interests to declare? *

I/we agree to assign copyright to the Medical Journal of Australia and agree to the Conditions of publication *
I/we agree to the Terms of use of the Medical Journal of Australia *
Email me when people comment on this article

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.