Girl, 9, is eighth case of polio in country: DOH

November 25, 2019

A nine-year old girl from Basilan became the eighth confirmed case of polio in the country.

The Department of Health (DOH) revealed Monday results of tests done to the samples sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases – Japan.

"(It) came out positive for polio virus. This brings the total number of confirmed polio cases this year to eight," said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in a statement.

He said the patient was not vaccinated against polio.

Duque, in a separate interview, said the patient had manifestations of acute Flaccid Paralysis until it was confirmed to be polio.

Last September, the health department reported two confirmed cases of polio in a three- year-old girl from Lanao Del Sur, and a five-year-old boy from Laguna.

Earlier this month, the health department also reported a four-year-old girl from Maguindanao, and a three-year-old girl from Sultan Kudarat became the third and fourth confirmed cases of polio.

Last week, the number of polio cases rose to seven after a two year-old girl from Maguindanao, one- year-old boy from Cotabato City, and a four-year-old girl from North Cotabato all tested positive for polio.

The health department urged the public to take advantage of the Synchronized Oral Polio Vaccine  campaign in the National Capital Region  and Mindanao from November 25 to December 7.

Duque said all children under five years old, regardless of immunization status, are eligible to receive a dose of oral polio vaccine.

The health department said there are a total of 1,276,000 targetted children in the NCR; and another 5.2 million in Mindanao. DMS