Boy with flaccid paralysis negative for polio — DOH

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday heaved a sigh of relief after a six-year old-boy from Calamba, Laguna, who was being observed for manifesting acute flaccid paralysis, turned out to be negative for polio even as officials appeal to parents to have their children vaccinated.

Otherwise, DOH Regional Director for Calabarzon Eduardo Janairo said the boy from Barangay Parian would have become the country’s third case of polio.

“This is really good news for me. It’s a relief that he is not infected with polio but he has other condition that is not related to polio,” Janairo said.

DOH Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergerie yesterday called on parents and caregivers to bring their children below five years old to health centters for the patak polio immunization.

Vergerie added that these children should not miss out on anti-polio vaccination for whatever reason for their own protection.                                           

“There is no cure for polio. It can only be prevented with three doses of the polio vaccine that are safe and effective,” she said. 

According to Janairo, the boy in Laguna was brought for consultation last week due to fever and his mother relayed that he was having difficulty walking. 

Because of this, the boy was put under monitoring to determine whether or not he has polio. He has not been vaccinated against disease.

Stool samples were taken from the boy and these were taken to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for examination. The specimen yielded negative for polio.

The DOH has intensified its surveillance system after polio returned in the country after 19 years, with two children infected in Lanao del Sur and Laguna last month. 

The World Health Organization said that to efficiently monitor polio, countries should scale up their surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP).  

Polio is just one of the many causes of AFP, which is characterized by the sudden onset of paralysis or weakness in any part of the body of a child under the age of 15.  

Aside from routine immunization at the barangay health centers, the DOH has embarked on a door-to-door supplemental immunization for polio in August in Manila.  

However, only 54 percent of the targeted children were covered. This is way below the 95 percent vaccination rate that DOH hoped to achieved. 

“Vaccination is the best way to protect your child against vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio, measles, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and tuberculosis, among others,” she added.

On Oct. 14, the DOH will conduct mass vaccination activities in Metro Manila, parts of Mindanao and Calabarzon until it covers the entire country.