Health topics
Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. The virus is transmitted through contaminated food and water, and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system. Many infected people have no symptoms, but do excrete the virus in their faeces, hence transmitting infection to others.
Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent. Polio can only be prevented by immunization.
General information
News and features
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End-game strategic plan 2013-2018 endorsed during World Health Assembly
27 May 2013 -
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic conducts a successful multi-antigen vaccination campaign and introduces Japanese encephalitis vaccine in its northern provinces
14 April 2013 -
Poster exhibition at the 18th RCC meeting
8 January 2013 -
The 2nd Hands-on Training Course to Implement Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction Technique for Rapid Detection and Characterization of Polioviruses in the Western Pacific Region
10 December 2012
Press releases
Meetings and events
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Fourth Meeting on Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Laboratory Networks in the Western Pacific Region
11-15 March 2013 - Manila, Philippines -
Eighteenth Meeting of the Regional Commission for the Certification (RCC) of Poliomyelitis Eradication in the Western Pacific Region
28-29 November 2012 - Beijing, China
Programmes and activities
Related topics
Documents and publications
Policy documents
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EB132/17 (2012)
Poliomyelitis: intensification of the global eradication initiative -
WPR/RC61.R7 (2010)
Vaccine Preventable Diseases: Measles Elimination, Hepatitis B Control, and Poliomyelitis Eradication
