DOH Eastern Visayas targets 120,000 kids for polio vaccines

PALO, Leyte, Feb. 1 (PNA) -– The Department of Health (DOH) Eastern Visayas will embark on a massive campaign against polio disease this year, targeting 120,000 vulnerable children for immunization.

The whole year round administration of polio vaccine will target children less than five years of age who has not been fully immunized because they are highly vulnerable to polio, said DOH Regional Director Minerva Molon.

“Our target is to achieve 95 percent of the target population to be administered with polio vaccines. In the past years, Philippines has failed to achieve that target, placing the country at high risk for poliovirus outbreak,” Molon told reporters.

Polio, according to DOH is highly contagious disease caused when the poliovirus invades the nervous system. Signs and symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiff neck and sudden onset of floppy arms or legs.

Since there is no cure for polio, the government has been pushing for massive immunization to prevent the disease.

According to DOH, the last case of wild poliovirus in the country was reported in 1993. The country has been polio-free since 2000. However, circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus cases were detected in 2001.

To stop its global transmission, health authorities introduce a dose of inactivated polio vaccine in routine immunization. (PNA)
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