Philippines: Health department confirms third case of polio outbreak

The Health Department of the Philippines has confirmed the third case of the polio outbreak in the country after the communicable disease reappeared in almost about two decades. Francisco Duque III, the Health Secretary said that the third confirmed case is a four-year-old girl from Datu Piang town in Maguindanao province who was not given oral polio vaccination. The stool samples of the girl were sent for the examination to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan which found that the girl was positive for vaccine-derived poliovirus 2.

READ: UN Says 1st Local Polio Case Found In Zambia Since 1995

Vaccination campaign to be conducted 

The health department said that the virus has been genetically linked to the same virus in the first polio case in 19 years. In the beginning, the girl was reported with acute flaccid paralysis in October with a specified kind of fever, diarrhea, vomiting and muscle pain. The department of health said that it is waiting for the lab results of the samples from another suspected polio case. A vaccination campaign will be conducted in Datu Piang scheduled for November 4 to 8 for more than 4,250 children aged between zero to five years. A three-year-old girl from Lanao del Sur and a five-year-old boy from Laguna were the first two polio cases in the country.

READ: Facebook Blocks 31 Pakistan Pages, Accounts For Polio Propaganda

Travelers advised to take proper vaccinations against polio

The health officials have declared a polio outbreak in the country following the upturn of the disease. They have also recommended the travelers going in and out of the Philippines to take proper vaccinations against polio. Health research shows that there is no cure for polio which results in nerve injury leading to possible paralysis. According to research, the polio virus can only be prevented through multiple doses of vaccines. Earlier, the International Red Cross and its body in the Philippines have warned of an alarming resurgence of the poliovirus in the country urging the government to declare a national outbreak. The humanitarian group said that they are putting efforts in the Philippines to completely eradicate the highly infectious disease, which was declared eradicated in the country 19 years ago.

READ: On ‘World Polio Day’ Amitabh Bachchan Admires ‘Undying Dedication’ Of Anti-Polio Campaign Workers

READ: World Polio Day: Will Babudom And Prejudice Undermine India’s Internationally Acclaimed Polio Success Story?