Aussie docs needs to up game on polio, experts say
Complacency has seen the nation fail to meet WHO's surveillance targets on stool testing
The world is ‘tantalisingly close’ to eradicating polio but Australian doctors can do more to help stamp out the virus, according to an Medical Journal of Australia perspective.
Only two countries in the world have wild poliomyelitis — Pakistan and Afghanistan — but outbreaks of vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) strains have emerged on Australia’s doorstep recently.
However, for the past 11 years Australia has consistently failed to meet its WHO obligations on surveillance with regards to stool testing, they say.
The authors, led by Professor David Durrheim, the chair of Australia’s National Polio Certification Committee, are appealing to the country’s doctors to exercise more vigilance in the area.
