Vaccine round done

Five rounds of polio vaccination were carried out in all 22 provinces last year, according to the Department of Health.
Phase two of the polio campaign will continue this year.
Technical staff from the department, with support of communication specialists from United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), conducted the first awareness for this year at St Paul’s Clinic in Gerehu, Port Moresby, on Monday.
Expanded immunisation programme officer Dr Bauri Mathias highlighted the importance of vaccination and advised parents and guardians to ensure children were vaccinated with polio vaccine to be protected. He explained to the parents and guardians how the first case was detected on an 18-month-old boy who suffered paralysis on his legs and could not stand upright.
Mathias said traces of polio virus were found in the faeces of the boy that were collected and examined.
“If a child has polio, the virus can spread to other children in the community,” he said.