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Comment by ars

No, that's not the biggest problem. The biggest problem is cVDPV2 (i.e. vaccine derived type 2 Polio). Type 2 Polio is extinct in the wild, but the vaccine derived version refuses to stop.

The trouble is the only way to stop cVDPV2 is to immunize for it - but that same immunization is what creates cVDPV2 in the first place.

Until a better vaccine arrives, it doesn't look like we'll ever eradicate it, Taliban etc aren't changing that. However there might be good news:

"March 2021 saw the first use of the modified nOPV2 vaccine in selected countries. This was engineered to allow vaccination against strain 2 poliovirus without the frequent spawning of cVDPV2 seen with the original OPV2. Full rollout was not expected until 2023."

If that works, then eradication might succeed.

parent ars 4 years ago

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