FOLLOWING A CONFIRMED polio case from a three-year old girl in Lanao del Sur province, Mayor Beng Climaco has ordered the Zamboanga City Health Office to intensify its campaign against the infectious disease which can cause paralysis, respiratory distress, and even death.
City Health Officer Dr. Dulce Miravite has urged parents to have their children immunized or complete at least three doses of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) which is given as early as 6 weeks of age and the two other doses are given at 10 weeks and 14 weeks, as part of the government’s regular immunization program.
“It is very important that we have to – first and foremost – is to have ourselves or our children vaccinated because polio is vaccine-preventable disease. As early as 6 weeks, el bata puede ya manda man OPV,” Miravite said, reminding parents and guardians to bring their children for vaccinations at barangay health centers on immunization day – every Wednesday.
Miravite said they will further strengthen the local government’s immunization advocacy and emphasizing polio vaccinations in the barangays. She also urged residents to avoid open defecation practices and to constantly wash hands with soap and water and to observe proper food handling, and ensure clean and safe drinking water.
The Department of Health (DOH) has confirmed that polio is re-emerging in the country, 19 after the Philippines was declared polio-free by the World Health Organization. It said polio virus was also detected in samples taken from sewage in Manila and waterways in Davao.
The samples were tested by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and verified by the Japan National Institute for Infectious Diseases and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A single confirmed polio case of vaccine-derived polio virus type 2 or two positive environmental samples that are genetically linked isolated in two different locations is considered an epidemic in a polio free country.
DOH said there is no cure for polio and it can only be prevented with multiple doses of polio vaccines that have long been proven safe and effective. (Zamboanga Post)
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