DUBAI Two weeks after the National Polio Campaign was launched for children in the UAE, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has urged adults travelling to certain countries to ensure they are protected from all vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio.
Dr Sami Mana, DHA’s Director of Preventive Services Centre, said: “Residents travelling to polio-endemic or high-risk countries must consult with the DHA’s travel clinics at Al Mankhool or Al Barsha and present their histories. Based on that, they will be advised whether they need to take the vaccine or not.”
UAE polio-free
Dr Mana was responding to XPRESS queries on whether adults travelling to polio-endemic or high risk countries need the polio vaccine.
The UAE has been polio-free since 1992. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), three countries are still endemic for polio – Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria – which means the wild poliovirus (WPV) which causes polio has circulated there during the past 12 months.
It says countries with polio outbreaks or environmental evidence of active WPV circulation during this time include Cameroon, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Iraq, Israel, Somalia and Syria.
CDC states that most adults do not need polio vaccine because they have already been vaccinated as children. But three groups of adults are at higher risk and it recommends that they consider polio vaccination.
The three groups include those travelling to polio-endemic or high-risk areas of the world; those working in a laboratory and handling specimens that might contain polioviruses; and those healthcare workers treating patients who could have polio or have close contact with a person who could be infected with poliovirus.
