Polio experts must "eradicate the disease" to the world's children

D r Zaffran said that it would be "strange enough" to declare Africa polio-free if children were still paralyzed by the viral form of the virus.

"But that could always be the case that at the end of next year or the beginning of the following year, Africa no longer contains wild poliovirus", he said, "I hope that the efforts we have already made in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in the Horn of Africa have put an end to the epidemics we are currently experiencing, because they do not normally last too long, "he said.

Syria had a vaccine-derived virus outbreak last year, with more than 50 cases of the disease.

In Syria, we conducted a fairly aggressive series of campaigns that interrupted the circulation of the disease in four to five months of war.In Somalia, we have children who are not accessible in some areas, but I think we should able to remedy current epidemics, "he said.

Roland Sutter , coordinator of the WHO polio, polio, and polio prevention team Polio of vaccine origin was "a major concern."

But he added, "The solution is to achieve a very high immunization coverage in the affected populations, as we would with wild poliovirus."

Attacks on vaccinators, a lack Security and mistrust have hindered final eradication efforts in the last two countries reporting cases, with Helmand and Kandahar provinces in Afghanistan proving particularly difficult, said Dr. Zaffran.

"Afghanistan faces tremendous difficulties fully committed to eradicating the disease," he said. "We need to have access – consistent access to children in all parts of the country. The surveillance system is extremely effective and as soon as we know that the virus is circulating, if we can access the area, we will vaccinate.