No confirmed polio case in Madang, says official

By DOROTHY MARK
There are no confirmed polio case in Madang, says acting provincial health director Paul Mabong.
He said recent media reports of Madang having nine cases of polio had raised a lot of concern for authorities on the ground.
Mabong said there were nine children below the age of five showing limited movements of their arms and legs.
That prompted health authorities to take their stool samples for testing.
“Those nine were suspected acute flaccid paralysis so their stools were taken and sent to the Central public health laboratory,” Mabong said.
“The laboratory will confirm if there are signs of polio virus in the stool samples.” Meanwhile, the second round of the polio vaccination of Madang children will begin on Aug 13.
Mabong said it was a must that all children under the age of five must be vaccinated.
He said children would need to receive at least four doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV), irrespective of previous immunisation status.
Mabong said OPV had a unique ability to stop person-to-person spread of virus.
This was why OPV was used in outbreak settings to stop circulation of the virus in communities.
Mabong said management and safety of the imported vaccine in the country was closely monitored by Unicef and World Health Organisation.