Message for U.S. Citizens: Cairo (Egypt), Polio Vaccination Reminder
Disease Outbreak
Near East > Egypt > Cairo
1/30/2013
The U.S. Embassy encourages U.S. citizens to have up-to-date immunizations, especially the polio vaccine, in light of recent news from the World Health Organization that isolated strains of the polio virus were found in a sampling of untreated sewage in the impoverished neighborhoods of Al Salam and Al Haggana in Cairo. The Egyptian Ministry of Health is initiating a campaign to vaccinate all Egyptian children who are under age five in these two areas of Cairo.
There is no need for alarm. The last human case of polio in Egypt was reported in 2004, and so far there have been no new cases documented. The polio vaccine schedule advised by the U.S. Advisory College of Immunization Practices and that which is recommended by the Department of State is as follows:
Children in the United States routinely receive four doses of polio vaccine before age six with the fourth dose after age four. Adults who received the polio vaccine as a child (either by oral or injected) are advised to receive one booster of polio vaccine if traveling overseas to countries where polio cases are still reported.
Please contact your current healthcare provider if you have questions regarding your immunization records.
https://www.osac.gov/Pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=13535&__Referrer=afternoon_digest_31_01_2013