Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201110241677.html
South Africa: A Rare Case of Polio Vaccination Paralysis in a Congenital Immune Deficient Child in the Country
24 October 2011
press release
To ensure South Africa remains free of polio the Department of Health oversees a monitoring programme to ensure that any case would be identified early.
Through this surveillance system, a young child in Gauteng, with a very rare and severe congenital immune system problem, has been confirmed by the National Institute of Communicable Disease (NICD) division of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) to have developed a case of paralysis as an extremely rare complication of polio vaccination.
This complication has been shown to occur in only 23 cases worldwide since the introduction of Oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) in the previous century.
In these extremely rare cases a polio-like picture arises in individuals and especially in babies or young children who have received OPV and are not able to produce antibodies that effectively protect against infections.
These babies have a rare genetic defect and the condition is called agammaglobulinaemia and those infected cannot make antibodies to fight infection. The diagnosis of agammaglobulinaemia is difficult to make and is not always obvious at birth and generally only suspected when the children present with recurrent infections...
South Africa: A Rare Case of Polio Vaccination Paralysis in a Congenital Immune Deficient Child in the Country
24 October 2011
press release
To ensure South Africa remains free of polio the Department of Health oversees a monitoring programme to ensure that any case would be identified early.
Through this surveillance system, a young child in Gauteng, with a very rare and severe congenital immune system problem, has been confirmed by the National Institute of Communicable Disease (NICD) division of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) to have developed a case of paralysis as an extremely rare complication of polio vaccination.
This complication has been shown to occur in only 23 cases worldwide since the introduction of Oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) in the previous century.
In these extremely rare cases a polio-like picture arises in individuals and especially in babies or young children who have received OPV and are not able to produce antibodies that effectively protect against infections.
These babies have a rare genetic defect and the condition is called agammaglobulinaemia and those infected cannot make antibodies to fight infection. The diagnosis of agammaglobulinaemia is difficult to make and is not always obvious at birth and generally only suspected when the children present with recurrent infections...
