4 new polio cases ‍‍‍‍bring total to 16‍‍‍‍‍

Four more children have been stricken with polio, bringing the total number of polio cases in the country to 16 since the outbreak was declared in September 2019.

Quoting the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Thursday that the new cases involved two boys from Maguindanao, aged 2 and 3 years old—a 2-year-old boy from Sultan Kudarat and a 3-year-old boy from Quezon City.

The boys had fever, diarrhea, muscle pain, asymmetric ascending paralysis and weakness of extremities, the DOH said in a statement.

The DOH has extended its Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio (SPKP) campaign to ensure that no child is left unvaccinated and to boost protection for those already vaccinated.

The new campaign is scheduled from Jan. 20 to Feb. 2 in all regions of Mindanao, and from Jan. 27 to Feb. 7 in the National Capital Region.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III urged all parents and caregivers of children under 5 to take part in the vaccination.

“Have your children, including those with private physicians or pediatricians, vaccinated with oral polio vaccine (OPV) by health workers and bakunators. Additional polio doses can provide additional protection to your children. There is no overdose with the oral polio vaccine,” Duque said in a statement.

The DOH and local government units aim to accomplish a 95-percent polio vaccine coverage in all identified areas for every SPKP round.

The DOH also urged all health facilities to strengthen their acute flaccid paralysis surveillance to put a halt to the polio outbreak threatening the country.