THE Department of Health (DOH) expressed alarm on Wednesday following the confirmation by the National Polio Laboratory (NPL) of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and the Japan National Institute of Infectious Diseases that a total of 26, out of 142 environmental samples (ES) collected, tested positive for poliovirus types 1 or 2.
“The presence of the poliovirus in environmental samples implies that carriers of the virus are continuously shedding in the communities. If viruses continue to spread from person-to-person in areas with low immunization coverage, the poliovirus evolves and regains the ability to cause paralysis,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque explained.
Out of the 26 positive samples, 25 were collected from the National Capital Region (NCR) and one from Davao City from July 1 to November 6, 2019.
Samples collected came from 39 sites in NCR, Cordillera Administrative Region, Region 3, Region 4A, Region 11, Region 12, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and Region 7 as part of regular surveillance nationwide. The ES are being collected from sewage treatment plants and bodies of water from areas without treatment plants.
In September 2019, the DOH declared the reemergence of poliovirus in the country. The DOH, RITM, Unicef and the World Health Organization responded to the polio outbreaks through intensified surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis cases, implementation of simultaneous mass vaccination and expansion of ES collection sites nationwide.
The NPL will continue to provide laboratory confirmation of cases and conduct collection of ES.
The DOH is conducting the third round of the Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio campaign in Metro Manila and the second round in all of Mindanao. This will run from November 25 to December 7, 2019.
Health workers are set to go house-to-house to administer the oral polio vaccine. Fixed vaccination posts/patak corners in the communities will also provide the OPV.
“This is why it is of utmost importance that we vaccinate all children below five years old [zero to 59 months], regardless of their vaccination status,” Duque added.
On November 25, the DOH confirmed the eighth case of polio recorded in the country this year.
Image credits: AP Photo/Aaron Favila