Nigeria: Polio Vaccine Back in the Headlines

This article describes a recent outbreak of 69 poliovirus cases in Northern Nigeria. Reports have linked the outbreak to the polio vaccine itself, and indicate that this is possibly the largest vaccine-derived polio outbreak on record.

According to this article, these findings pose a serious threat to the credibility of the polio vaccination campaign being carried out within Nigeria, especially in regions such as this one where the general population is particularly sensitive to rumours about vaccine safety. Past rumours relating the polio vaccine to AIDS and sterility, put forward by radical Muslim religious leaders, resulted in the suspension of vaccination in three northern states in 2004 for almost a year. Although vaccination has resumed fully throughout Nigeria, officials say that vaccination uptake in some of the Northern states is still low.

According to Sona Bari, spokeswoman for the World Health Organization, "All vaccines have risks associated with them. From a public health perspective it is important for people to weigh the risks with the benefits. We hope that people don't focus now on the vaccine as the problem when it is the disease that still poses a far greater problem."