Rising anti-vaccine sentiment and dissemination of misinformation are threats to public health. In the US, calls to revoke certain public health mandates have been proposed by likely members of the incoming administration, among them vaccination against polio. The fourth instalment of the Nightmare Series is both a cautionary tale and an effort to preserve and share clinical expertise on how to diagnose and manage polio and rubella in a world where, until now, few doctors have had to face these illnesses in the clinical setting. Host Angela Huttner welcomes Professor Emeritus of Infectious Diseases Bernard Hirschel at the University of Geneva and Dr. Kerrigan McCarthy of the Centre for Vaccines and Immunology at South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) for that discussion.

This episode was edited by Kathryn Hostettler and peer-reviewed by Dr. Barbora Píšová in Antwerp, Belgium.

Literature

Link-Gelles R et al (2022) MMWR https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7133e2.htm 

Ryerson AB et al (2022) MMWR https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7144e2.htm 

Kasstan B et al (2023) Epidemiol Infect doi: 10.1017/S0950268823001127

NICD (2024) Report: Rubella in South Africa, 2024.

https://www.nicd.ac.za/surge-in-rubella-cases-in-south-africa-november-2024/