Counterintuitive Spring 2023

Polio: Eradicating an Old-School Virus in the Modern Day

When was the last time you were concerned that you might catch the deadly Poliovirus? If you are an American citizen, you’re most likely in the fortunate position of having never worried about it at all. Such was not always the case. Known most commonly as “Polio”, the illness once ravaged the United States, peaking at almost 60,000 cases during the Polio Epidemic of 1952. After the release of the vaccine in 1955, the country has been virtually polio-free. The same cannot be said for other countries around the world. In Nigeria, the spread of malignant misinformation about the danger of vaccines has left the citizens vulnerable. Starting in 2013, Muhammad Ali Pate, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health, believed he could cease the spread of Polio amongst his people, but a long history of ignorance and violence stands in his way.

It is evident that Nigeria will not eradicate the poliovirus in the near future. On October 4, 2013, an article written by Leslie Roberts detailed that Nigeria has numerous different cultures and ethnic groups, which is clearly ineffective while attempting to implement a vaccination mandate. Leslie Roberts also stated that this is especially due to how it isn’t uncommon for citizens to listen to rumors that constantly spread from the west that the vaccine causes infertility or AIDS. Even if both of those obstacles were eradicated, it would be near impossible to mandate a a skeptical vaccine. According to Leslie Roberts, this is because the federal government in Nigeria is essentially powerless and discredited.

There is no “Art of Eradicating Polio”, groups affected by violence and dishonesty will almost forever stay reluctant- as seen in Nigeria. Nigeria’s corruption has created great division within the country. Trusted officials have spread rumors stating that Polio vaccines lead to a widespread of health problems. Other “theories” have spread such as the widely believed rumor that “Westerners are trying to eradicate the Muslim population” with the vaccine. There are a multitude of hate crimes connected to the vaccine such as bombings, murders, and shootings. These unfortunate conditions will only bread for resilience, therefore keeping Polio an ongoing issue.  

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For a while now the world has been affected by the spread of the Polio disease. In today’s world of modern medicine we know that there are vaccines available to help stop certain diseases like this from happening. Most countries are lucky enough to have access to these vaccines, however places like Nigeria are not so lucky. Many individuals are concerned that there is not enough in store to eradicate the illness and it is taking a huge toll. People are scared because of the many claims about the vaccine making things worse and people do not want it. Another big issue is people who really need will not get it, and the children are the most unfortunate casualties because they are the ones being forcefully vaccinated.

The poliovirus will most likely never be eradicated. Today’s world has many other issues to take control of, such as the fear of vaccines. Plenty of people in Nigeria fear that the oral polio vaccine was contaminated with AIDS. The trust issues within Nigeria need to be solved first, before forcing vaccinators to treat children. An additional theory was a false claim that stated some vaccines had traces of estradiol, which led to the vaccine ban in 2003. Violence is another reason why the vaccine was not distributed. In August of 2011, many aid workers were killed by the bombings of Islamist insurgent group. Since all these problems occurred in Nigeria, there is no chance they will except help from outsiders. Right now, trust issues must be resolved first, than the country can begin fighting for a vaccine.

The unarguable reason that we will never eradicate the Polio virus is fear. Whether this fear is due to the CIA’s Pakistan-Afghanistan fake vaccination campaign, or the ever-present fear of vaccinations that plagues many American parents today (similar to the diseases that will undeniably plague themselves and their unvaccinated children). With this in mind, it’s impossible to argue that as a society we will never completely eradicate the existence of the polio virus. The number of people who disagree and/or fear vaccinations is rising, when in order to rid ourselves of the terrible virus, the numbers need to continue to fall until there are no more. Mass inoculations are the only solution to this epidemic, which will never be achieved if we continue our trend of trypanophobia.

The world is too concerned with other emergencies to eradicate polio. With the recent Covid-19 pandemic, borders in poor, Polio-active countries have been closed, shutting out connection to Polio vaccination teams. Additionally, the US pulled out of the fight against Polio. The ultimate concern is that this pause in progress will inflate Polio numbers and undo past work. The Covid-19 pandemic threatens the health of thousands of children, especially as 200,000 predicted Polio cases lurk in the future if it is not eradicated. Polio is a disease that is difficult enough to tackle, but with the added concern of the Covid-19 virus, Polio impact has sadly worsened, which will have heartbreaking results.