DSP Vaslui: Advice for travelers regarding poliomyelitis

In the context of increased mobility and the increase in the number of countries that have cases of poliomyelitis/detection of polioviruses, it is recommended to carry out a complete vaccination scheme, especially for the polio component, respectively a booster according to age and/or length of stay, regardless of the restrictions imposed at the border . The recommendations are made especially for Romanian citizens who travel frequently to these countries, in order to prevent individual and other people from getting sick after returning to Romania.

Following the meeting of the Emergency Committee of the RSI, on the subject of polioviruses, from March 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to extend the Public Health Emergency of International Interest (USPII) regarding the danger of the spread of wild poliovirus (WPV) and/or derived from vaccine (cVDPV) for another three months. At that time, countries with polioviruses were: WPV (Afghanistan, Malawi, Mozambique and Pakistan) and with cVDPV (cVDPV1: Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo; cVDPV2: Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ivory Coast, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Guinea, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger , Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe).

Polio vaccination is recommended for people traveling FROM and SPRE countries infected with WPV, cVDPV1, cVDPV2 with transboundary transmission, for resident citizens of these states or long-term visitors (> 4 weeks)who have not been vaccinated against polio in the last 12 months.

The vaccination will be done 4 weeks before the trip or, in emergency cases, even before it, and will be recorded on the international vaccination certificate – WHO format according to IHR 2005 and must accompany the other travel documents.

In Romania, the International Certificate of Vaccinations is obtained following the administration of the vaccine products in the international vaccination offices, the list of which is displayed on the INSP website (under the advice for travelers section).

Following the risk assessment that takes into account the travel area, length of stay, activities carried out and vaccination history, these people may be denied the right to leave the territory of these countries, regardless of the border point (road, sea, air) if they do not present documents certifying polio vaccination, the border authorities have the right to prohibit departure. For some countries, the lack of vaccination can be the basis for not granting an entry visa.

The list of countries for which polio vaccination is required is periodically updated by WHO after receiving reports from affected countries.