Status of immunity against poliomyelitis in the acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases in Romania between 2009-2012.

Poliovirus (PV), a member of the Enterovirus genus, is the etiological agent of poliomyelitis, an acute paralytic disease. No poliovirus strain has been isolated in Romania since 2009. A serosurvey study carried out between 2009-2012, that involved 76 serum samples from acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases, showed a low protection level in the examined subjects against type 1 (80%), type 2 (79%) and type 3 (71%) poliovirus Sabin strains. Samples with titers ≥ 1:8 were considered positive. Suboptimal seroprevalence in the AFP cases confirmed that a high level of immunization against polio must be assured in our country, because the risk of importation and subsequent transmission of the poliovirus remains until polio is globally eradicated.