Publications by authors named "R Franka"

Article Synopsis
  • The Global Polio Eradication Initiative has significantly reduced wild poliovirus cases since 1988, eliminating two serotypes and limiting endemic transmission to just Afghanistan and Pakistan.
  • In Pakistan, a single confirmed WPV1 case was reported in early 2023, but subsequent months saw a resurgence with eight cases documented by mid-2024 and over 300 WPV1-positive environmental samples.
  • The country's ongoing challenges, such as a complex sociopolitical environment and community resistance to vaccination, necessitate strong political commitment and targeted efforts to improve polio vaccination outreach and address operational issues.
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Introduction: in 2016, a switch from trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) (containing serotypes 1,2,3) to bivalent OPV (types 1,3) was implemented globally. We assessed the seroprevalence of poliovirus antibody levels in selected Nigerian states, before and after the switch, documented poliovirus type2 outbreak responses conducted and ascertained factors associated with immunity gaps based on seroprevalence rates.

Methods: we conducted a secondary analysis of stored serum samples from the 2018 Nigeria National HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey.

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Introduction: ultimately detected in 2016, wild poliovirus (WPV) transmission continued undetected after 2011 in Northeast Nigeria Borno and Yobe States in security-compromised areas, inaccessible due to armed insurgency. Varying inaccessibility prevented children aged <5 years in these areas from polio vaccination interventions and surveillance, while massive population displacements occurred. We examined progress in access over time to provide data supporting a very low probability of undetected WPV circulation within remaining trapped populations after 2016.

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Introduction: the Growing Expertise in E-health Knowledge and Skills (GEEKS) program is an applied apprenticeship program that aims to improve informatics capacity at various levels of the national health system and create a sustainable informatics workforce. Nigeria adapted the GEEKS model in 2019 as a mechanism to strengthen data quality and use of routine immunization (RI) and vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) surveillance data among Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) staff. Since the start of the GEEKS-EPI program, there has not been a formal assessment conducted to measure the extent to which GEEKS-EPI has been able to build local informatics workforce capacity and strengthen RI and VPD surveillance (VPDS) data quality and use in Nigeria.

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Since the establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, Pakistan remains one of only two countries (along with Afghanistan) with continued endemic transmission of wild poliovirus (WPV). This report describes Pakistan's progress toward polio eradication during January 2022-June 2023. During 2022, Pakistan reported 20 WPV type 1 (WPV1) cases, all of which occurred within a small geographic area encompassing three districts in south Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

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