PREVALENCE, INCIDENCE, AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL FEATURES OF POLIOMYELITIS IN THE YEMEN-ARAB-REPUBLIC

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 61  (2) , 353-359
Abstract
The prevalence of residual paralysis due to poliomyelitis in children aged 5-13 yr was studied to estimate the annual incidence of clinical cases of the disease and to determine the epidemiological features of poliomyelitis in Yemen. The data was used to assess the impact of an immunization program instituted in 1977 on the incidence of poliomyelitis. The prevalence of lameness due to poliomyelitis was 4.0/1000 children. The estimated annual incidence of the disease is thus 18.6/100,000 in the general population, or .apprx. 1088 cases each year, with an estimated 163 deaths. An estimated 5000 children aged 5-13 yr are lame as a result of poliomyelitis. There was no significant difference in the incidence of the disease in rural and urban areas. The median age of onset was 1.92 yr in the urban setting and 1.29 yr in the rural setting, with > 1/2 of all cases occurring before the age of 2 yr. Immunization efforts should therfore be directed towards infants aged < 2 yr. Although a national disease notification system was established in 1976, 95% of the clinical cases discovered during the survey had not been reported. This underlies the importance of special surveys in gathering the data necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the immunization program.