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. 2014 Aug 20:14:448.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-14-448.

An epidemiological analysis of acute flaccid paralysis and its surveillance system in Iraq, 1997-2011

Jagar A Jasem  1 , Kawa Marof, Adnan Nawar, Yosra Khalaf, Faisal Al-Hamdani, Sagvan Ali, Andre C Kalil, K M Monirul Islam
Affiliations

An epidemiological analysis of acute flaccid paralysis and its surveillance system in Iraq, 1997-2011

Jagar A Jasem et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Acute flaccid paralysis surveillance (AFP) is an essential strategy of the WHO's Polio Eradication Initiative. This is the first study conducted to estimate the incidence, etiology, distribution, and surveillance performance of AFP in Iraq.

Methods: Surveillance data about the AFP cases under the age of 15 years reported from Iraq during January 1997 to December 2011 were depended in the current study.

Results: A total of 4974 cases of AFP were reported from Iraq during the study period, with an annual incidence of 2.5/100,000 population. Guillain-Barré syndrome represented more than half of the reported cases (N = 2611, 52.5%), followed by traumatic neuritis (N = 715, 14.4%), and other CNS infections (N = 292, 5.9%). Poliomyelitis accounted for 166 (3.3%) of cases, the last reported case being in January 2000. Surveillance performance showed that all, but two, indicators were below the required WHO recommended levels.

Conclusions: AFP surveillance remains the gold standard method for poliomyelitis detection. It witnessed dramatic changes over the last two decades. This has raised people's and clinicians' awareness to the importance of promptness in notifying suspected cases and timely transportation of stool specimens to the National Poliovirus Laboratory in Baghdad, or alternatively having more than one laboratory for poliovirus detection in the country, all of which are very useful measures to increase the surveillance performance in the country.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of poliomyelitis cases per year, Iraq, 1997-2011.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of AFP cases reported per province, Iraq, 1997-2011.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Case fatality rate of selected causes of AFP, Iraq, 1997-2011.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Virological flowchart and case classification of the reported AFP cases, Iraq, 1997-2011.
Figure 5
Figure 5
AFP surveillance performance according to pre-selected WHO indicators, Iraq, 1997-2011.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Map of Iraq depicting the percentage of AFP cases notified within 7 days from the onset of paralysis, Iraq, 1997-2011.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Map of Iraq depicting the percentage of stool Specimens received by the laboratory within 3 days of collection, Iraq, 1997-2011.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Behrman RE, Kliegman RM, Jenson H. Nelson’s Textbook of Pediatrics. Philadelphia. UAS: Saunders; 2004.
    1. Kasper DL, Fauci AS, Longo DL, Braunwald E, Hauser SL, Jameson JL. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. New York, USA: McGraw-Hill Medical Publishing Division; 2005.
    1. Nathanson N, Kew OM. From emergence to eradication: the epidemiology of poliomyelitis deconstructed. Am J Epidemiol. 2010;172(11):1213–1229. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwq320. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Poliomyelitis. [http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs114/en/]
    1. WHO, Iraqi Ministry of Health . Accute flaccid paralysis field manual: For communicable diseases surveillance staff, republic of Iraq. Baghdad, Iraq: Iraqi Ministry of Health; 2009.
Pre-publication history
    1. The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/14/448/prepub