First confirmed polio case in Gaza in 25 years, UN calls for ‘humanitarian pauses’ to vaccinate children

The disease was diagnosed in a 10-month-old baby who had not been vaccinated, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health announced on Friday, August 16, that a first case of polio has been confirmed in Gaza. This highly contagious disease, which invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours according to the Pasteur Institute, was diagnosed in a “ten month old baby who had not been vaccinated” in Deir al-Balah, in the center of the overpopulated Palestinian territory, the ministry said.

The announcement comes as the UN Secretary-General has joined the call from WHO and UNICEF for “7-day humanitarian breaks” in the fighting in Gaza to enable two vaccination campaigns against this disease, which will affect more than 640,000 children under 10 years old in the coming weeks.

“I call on all parties to immediately provide concrete assurances guaranteeing humanitarian pauses for the campaign” vaccination, Antonio Guterres told reporters, as the virus was detected in sewage samples in the Gaza Strip. “It is impossible to conduct a polio vaccination campaign in the middle of a war”he insisted. “A polio break is needed”.

These two vaccination campaigns “are expected to be launched in late August and September 2024 across the Gaza Strip to prevent the spread of the variant currently circulating.”known as cVDPV2, the two agencies said in a statement. Poliovirus was detected in July in wastewater samples collected in late June in Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah, WHO and UNICEF recall. The UN stresses that vaccination coverage must be at least 95% in each vaccination campaign to prevent the spread of the disease, “given that health, water and sanitation systems are seriously disrupted in the Gaza Strip”.

There is no treatment for polio. However, hygiene measures and vaccination can protect children from this disease, the Pasteur Institute specifies. Polio is transmitted by contact between individuals and occurs “mainly by the fecal-oral route, particularly via contaminated water, aerosols or food contaminated by stools” continues the Institute.