One more polio case identified in EHP

The National National

YET another polio case has been reported in the country by the Health Department and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
A 22-month-old girl from Eastern Highlands is the fourth confirmed case following two cases from Morobe in June and July this year and one from Enga early this month.
Another 65 suspected cases are being investigated.
A joint statement from the Health Department and WHO said the girl had an onset of paralysis on July 8 and initial laboratory results show the case was genetically linked to the current outbreak in the country.
The case was confirmed on Friday by the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory which is a WHO collaborating centre in Australia.
“The Health Department has enhanced surveillance system and is continuously receiving reports of suspected acute flaccid paralysis and to date there are 65 suspected cases that are being investigated,” the statement said.
It said the identification of the latest case highlighted the risk of polio in children under five years old and that children could be protected from polio only with vaccination.
“Given the substantial vaccination coverage gaps across the country, the risk of further spread of polio within the country continues to be classified as high,” the statement said.
It said Health Department called on parents to take every child below five years to the nearest health centre or vaccination point to get polio drops during the next round of the polio campaign this month.
As scheduled, the polio campaign will begin from Monday and end on Sept 2 for Morobe, Madang and Eastern Highlands.
The campaign in Enga, Chimbu, Southern Highlands, Western Highlands, Jiwaka and Hela will be from Aug 27 to Sept 9.
The statement said a nationwide campaign will be in Sept-Oct.
The department and WHO emphasised that children would need to receive multiple doses of oral polio vaccine, irrespective of previous immunisation status and that the vaccine was safe, free and had the ability to stop person-to-person spread of the virus.