ECDC highlights its recent risk assessments on polio (November 8 2013)

[Giuseppe]

[Source: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), full page: (LINK).]


ECDC highlights its recent risk assessments on polio

08 Nov 2013


According to its mandate, ECDC has assessed the impact on the EU/EEA countries of the new developments regarding polio in Syria and provided a rapid risk assessment published on 23 October 2013.

This rapid risk assessment states that:

"EU Member States receiving refugees and asylum seekers from Syria should assess their vaccination status on arrival and provide polio vaccination and other vaccinations as needed."

Moreover, it says that:

"EU/EEA Member States should give high priority to the assessment of polio vaccination uptake at national, subnational and local level, and to the identification of vulnerable and under-vaccinated populations".

Furthermore:

?countries where the overall national vaccination coverage is below 90% should increase efforts towards improving vaccination coverage under the national schedule."

This rapid risk assessment refers to a more comprehensive risk assessment, published on 26 September 2013, in which ECDC evaluated the risk for Europe due to the recent detection of wild-type polio virus 1 (WPV1) in sewage and asymptomatic carriers in Israel, as this raises new questions on the potential for the importation and re-establishment of WPV in EU/EEA countries.

In this comprehensive risk assessment, ECDC recommendations for EU/EEA Member States were as follows:

• EU/EEA Member States should give high priority to the assessment of polio vaccination uptake at national, subnational and local level, and to the identification of vulnerable and under-vaccinated populations.
• Countries where the overall national vaccination coverage is below 90% should increase efforts towards improving vaccination coverage under the national schedule.
• Environmental surveillance, enterovirus surveillance and other types of supplementary surveillance should be strengthened, and EU-level standards and performance indicators should be agreed.
• EU/EEA Member States should recommend that all travellers to areas where WPV circulates an up-to-date polio vaccination status.
• Operational and contingency plans are needed in the EU/EEA to mobilise polio vaccine in case of evidence of WPV transmission. The availability of poliovirus vaccines for use in the context of an outbreak should be assessed.

Read more:

• Suspected outbreak of poliomyelitis in Syria: Risk of importation and spread of poliovirus in the EU
• Risk assessment on wild-type poliovirus 1 in Israel - what is the risk for EU/EEA?

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