Baby paralysed by Gaza's first polio case in 25 years as health workers launch vaccination drive
A ten-month-old baby from Gaza’s Deir al-Balah has been left paralysed after contracting the enclaves first case of polio in 25 years.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) says the Palestinian infant was unvaccinated and has developed paralysis in the lower left leg.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added he is "gravely concerned" the threat of a wider polio outbreak is rising fast in the Gaza Strip.
Most often spread through sewage and contaminated water, polio is a highly infectious viral disease, which can cause deformities and paralysis, and potentially death. It mainly affects children under the age of five.
Gaza had not registered a case for 25 years. But in June, the poliovirus was detected in samples collected from wastewater.
Samples from the infected ten-month-old tested by the WHO have been linked to the variant found in June.
Polio vaccinations plunged after the war began, and the territory has become a breeding ground for the virus, with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians crowded into tent camps lacking clean water or proper disposal of sewage and rubbish.
The aid group Mercy Corps estimates some 50,000 babies born since October 7 have not been immunised against polio.
Only 16 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are functioning - with reduced services - and 40 per cent of its primary healthcare facilities are operating.
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To avert a widespread outbreak, the WHO says it's working with the Palestinian Health Ministry and UNICEF to launch two rounds of vaccinations at the end of August and September.
It warns at least 95% of Gaza’s children need to be immunised to prevent the spread of polio and reduce the risk of its re-emergence.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for two seven-day humanitarian pauses to administer doses.
Hamas says it would support a seven-day truce to facilitate the vaccinations.
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