10-Month-Old Diagnosed With Polio: Gaza’s First Case In 25 Years

Doctors in Gaza have identified a case of polio for the first time in 25 years, according to health officials. This detection comes as international aid organizations call for a temporary halt in the conflict to facilitate a vaccination campaign.

The health ministry reported that traces of poliovirus were found in a 10-month-old child in Deir al-Balah, who had not received any polio vaccinations. Earlier, UNICEF had detected poliovirus in environmental samples from Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah in July and sent stool samples from three children to a lab in Jordan for analysis.

Polio is a highly infectious disease primarily affecting children under 5, targeting the nervous system and potentially causing paralysis or death in severe cases.

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The return of the virus, which has been eradicated in most developed countries, underscores the dire conditions in Gaza, where two million residents have endured Israeli bombardment since October. Many are without sufficient food, medical supplies, and clean water, with up to 90% displaced.

Since Israel’s conflict with Hamas began following an attack by the group on October 7, over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed. The attack resulted in more than 1,200 Israeli deaths and 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

The health ministry plans to collaborate with UNICEF to vaccinate children under 10 in Gaza, with over a million doses available. Two rounds of vaccination are scheduled for this month and next, targeting more than 640,000 children. However, a ceasefire is necessary for an effective vaccination campaign, according to UNICEF, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, and the World Health Organization.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has described the proposal as “a must,” emphasizing that “the ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”

International mediators are urgently working to secure a broader ceasefire and hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas next week, following high-stakes talks in Qatar where a new proposal was presented to the conflicting parties.

UNICEF stated that Gaza had been polio-free for the past 25 years.

“Its reemergence, which the humanitarian community has warned about for the last ten months, represents yet another threat to the children in the Gaza Strip and neighboring countries,” the UN body added, stressing the importance of a ceasefire.

Hamas expressed support on Friday for the UN agencies’ call for a seven-day “polio pause.”

However, Gaza’s health ministry warned that a vaccination campaign alone “will not be enough without a radical solution to the problems of sanitation and accumulation of waste among the tents for the displaced.”

Last week, Palestinian Minister of Health Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan reported that Israel’s bombardment had destroyed 80% of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure. Most hospitals are out of service, and those still operating are functioning only partially “due to direct damage and the loss of qualified medical staff” from displacement, the minister said. “We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe by all indications and evidence,” he added.

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