Is poliomyelitis a serious problem in developing countries?--lameness in Ghanaian schools

A postal survey of lameness in schools throughout Ghana showed an estimated prevalence of lameness attributable to poliomyetitis of 5-8 per 1000 school-aged children and an estimated mean annual incidence of paralytic poliomyelitis of 23 per 100 000 population. Official reported incidence rates rang...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ 1977-04, Vol.1 (6067), p.1012-1014
Main Authors: Ofosu-Amaah, S, Kratzer, J H, Nicholas, D D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Age of onset
Child
Developing Countries
Epidemics
Epidemiology
Female
Gait
Ghana
Health Surveys
Humans
Immunization Schedule
Male
Middle schools
Outside Europe
Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis - epidemiology
Population mean
Questionnaires
School age children
Schools
Surveys and Questionnaires
Urban schools
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Summary:A postal survey of lameness in schools throughout Ghana showed an estimated prevalence of lameness attributable to poliomyetitis of 5-8 per 1000 school-aged children and an estimated mean annual incidence of paralytic poliomyelitis of 23 per 100 000 population. Official reported incidence rates range from 0-1 to 2-1 per 100 000 population, indicating that at least 90% of cases are not reported. No evidence of epidemics was found to account for these high rates. These suggest that mean annual incidence rates in tropical endemic countries have always been as great, if not greater, than those experienced by temperate countries during epidemic periods in the twentieth century and that the total number of cases of paralytic poliomyelitis occurring in the world each year has been reduced by only 25% since the advent of polio vaccine. Immunisation against poliomyelitis must have a high priority in Ghana and other tropical countries where the disease is endemic.
ISSN:0007-1447
0959-8138
1468-5833
DOI:10.1136/bmj.1.6067.1012