Let’s talk about polio

While polio might not be a hot topic for most these days, one Otago kaimahi - with first-hand knowledge of the disease - is determined to keep the conversation going.

Senior Analyst Mee Moi Edgar, of Otago’s Continuous Improvement team, says the risk of polio still remains, even though Aotearoa has successfully eradicated the disease.

“The wild poliovirus is still active in two countries and there are cases of polio resurgence in countries that had eradicated it due to factors like conflict or the Covid-19 pandemic, that made it difficult to deliver immunisations and healthcare.

“Until polio is completely eradicated worldwide, there remains a risk of it returning to any polio-free country, including New Zealand.”

Mee Moi has first-hand knowledge of the disease, having contracted polio as a child.

“I got polio when I was in Malaysia some time before I was adopted at the age of five. Since I was a home birth, there is no record of when I contracted the virus.”

Coming to New Zealand opened avenues for treatment and learning, Mee Moi says.

“In the late ’70s, when I came to New Zealand, I was definitely the youngest person in the country that had polio.

“So when I went to the hospital for treatment and exercises, the doctors would use me as an example for their interns to see a real case of polio.”

Growing up with the effects of the disease spurred Mee Moi to be more involved in the community of people with polio.

“I belonged to the Polio New Zealand Society and also served on the Society’s board.”

The Society started out as an active group with events, fundraising, AGMs, and more, Mee Moi says.

“Now that our members are getting older, Polio New Zealand has ceased operations and moved to a primarily online presence on Facebook, which I maintain.

“People with polio now go to the Duncan Foundation to get assistance with orthotics assessments, exercise classes, and more.

“We still have smaller coffee catch-ups, but that’s more local. I’m based in Invercargill, so I reach out to our members here and in Dunedin and Oamaru.”

Another reason for Mee Moi to keep the polio conversation going is the Late Effects of Polio (known as Post-Polio Syndrome in America), she says.

Late Effects of Polio (LEoP) is characterised by significant muscle pain and weakness 15-40 years after recovering from polio. As many as 50 per cent of individuals who contracted polio experience LEoP.

“A large majority of people who had polio, about 85 per cent, did not know they had the disease, most likely because they had no or minor flu-like symptoms.

“There were over 9,000 reported cases in Aotearoa till about 1965, but chances are it’s higher. We still need to deal with the second wave of people with LEoP.

“You might have muscle weakness or trouble breathing or even scoliosis, and for a person who had polio, it’s not always all down to aging. It’s important to be aware, to be able to have that conversation and receive the right care.”

World Polio Day, which is on 24 October, is an initiative Mee Moi supports each year alongside others with polio and the Rotary.

“Every year we contact monuments around the country to request they be lit up purple on the day. The Clocktower was one of the monuments this year.

“We have also worked with a New Zealand distillery to release a limited-edition purple gin. This year the gin was made by Dunedin Craft Distillers.”

Mee Moi also organised a morning tea at a local café, with special purple cupcakes.

“After morning tea, I walked around the café offering people purple cupcakes and talking about World Polio Day.

“People were fascinated, some asking me ‘is it a thing?’. It was an opportunity to raise awareness.”

Because polio is not a mainstream conversation topic, people think it doesn’t exist, Mee Moi says.

“The disease has not been eradicated and there’s always the chance of an outbreak because the virus travels easy.

“Raising the awareness of polio means that people can keep up to date with immunisation for their children or take polio boosters if they're older and traveling to affected countries.

“The polio vaccine has been perfected over many, many decades and unlike the flu vaccine, it can give you lifelong immunity.”

~ Kōrero by Sandra French, Adviser, Internal Communications