“ All iVDPV strains had mutations that reversed the attenuating features of the vaccine strain, and over time they also acquired a range of other mutations, many affecting the antigenic structure of the virus. All tested iVDPV samples were able to cause paralysis in transgenic mice that had a human poliovirus receptor.”
With all but two countries worldwide, Pakistan and Afghanistan, declared polio-free, the eradication of the devastating viral disease in the near future is a real possibility. A study published on August 27th in PLOS Pathogens reports results from an individual in the UK with an immune disease whose stool samples have contained large amounts of live polio virus for over 20 years. Patients like this one, the authors suggest, could start new polio outbreaks and complicate polio eradication as currently planned.