South Africa Confirms Polio Vaccine Event Following Routine Wastewater Surveillance Detection

The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) African Regional Certification Commission declared South Africa polio-free in 2019. Image credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

“This detection was part of the NICD’s routine environmental and wastewater testing to conduct proactive, population-wide disease tracking.

“This entails analysing municipal sewage and water resources to detect emerging outbreaks and viral variants before clinical cases appear.

The department has deemed it a "vaccine event" as there have been no human cases of the virus.

“These events need a public health response, are not high risk, and no additional vaccination campaign is required,” the department said in a statement.

The department emphasised that polio is preventable by vaccine, with the country officially declared polio-free by the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) African Regional Certification Commission in 2019.

Appropriate health response

“This suggests that these viruses detected in wastewater are likely from imported cases of people vaccinated with different vaccines from those used in South Africa. This does not translate to an outbreak.

Alongside the NICD, the department has activated appropriate health response activities, including strengthening surveillance and increasing the frequency of environmental wastewater sampling.

“South Africa continues to maintain outbreak preparedness plans, especially given the sporadic outbreaks of this disease in other countries and cross-border movements,” the statement read.

Symptoms of the virus are:

• Progressive muscle or joint weakness and pain
• Fatigue
• Muscle wasting
• Breathing or swallowing problems
• Sleep-related breathing disorders

“However, these are common symptoms for other health conditions.

“While there is no need for the public to be concerned, members of the public are urged to remain vigilant and ensure timely reporting of any suspected symptoms of polio to the nearest healthcare provider,” the statement said.