Now for the good news: Africa is officially polio-free

2 minute read

Communicable Disease COVID-19 Live blog

By

Bianca Nogrady

All 47 countries of the African continent are officially free of wild-type polio.

Welcome to The Medical Republic‘s COVID Catch-Up.

It’s the day’s COVID-19 news into one convenient post. Email bianca@biancanogrady.com with any tips, comments or feedback.

26 August

 

  • A major health milestone has been achieved: all 47 countries of the African continent are officially polio-free, which means around 90% of the world’s population lives in regions where wild-type polio has been eradicated.
    The campaign to eradicate polio through vaccination began in Africa in 1996, and has succeeded in achieving this milestone despite the additional challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
    The announcement from the Africa Regional Certification Commission means that five of the six World Health Organisation regions are now polio-free.
  • A cohort study of 33,041 asymptomatic children presenting to pediatric otolaryngologists for non-COVID-19-related reasons has reported an overall prevalence of 0.65% of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
    The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, made use of routine testing at 28 children’s hospitals across the US, and revealed that the prevalence of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 in children was significantly associated with the prevalence of COVID-19 in the overall population.
    The authors suggested that this knowledge could inform an understanding of the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in children during the pandemic.
    “This prevalence can be used to guide policy on institutional settings for children within that community and estimate pretest probability for SARS-CoV-2 screening,” they wrote. “Ongoing estimates of the prevalence of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in children may be updated as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves.”
  • Here are today’s confirmed COVID-19 infection numbers from around Australia, to 9pm Tuesday:
    National – 25,053, with 525 deaths
    ACT – 113 (0)
    NSW – 3991 (3)
    NT – 33 (0)
    QLD – 1106 (0)
    SA – 463 (0)
    TAS – 230 (0)
    VIC – 18,464 (148)
    WA – 653 (0)

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