UNITED NATIONS - In war-torn Syria, there’s little doubt that the conflict has taken a toll on health. Now, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that their attempt at using vaccines to “protect” children against polio has backfired — infecting more children with the devastating disease rather than saving them.
As World Health Organization representative Elizabeth Hoff reports,
“As of 18 August 2017, 33 children under the age of five have been paralyzed. The detection of the circulating vaccine derived polio virus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases demonstrates that disease surveillance systems are functional in Syria. Our priority now is to achieve the highest possible polio immunization coverage to stop the circulation of virus.”
Thirty-three children paralyzed by the vaccine that was supposed to protect them — and the UN’s response is to just keep doling out more vaccines? Sadly, that’s par for the course. Obviously, bad medicine is never the problem — there’s just not enough bad medicine, that’s all.