A health worker gives polio vaccine to a toddler. (AFP)
Bad news: The polio virus is back in the Philippines.
Vaccine, proper hygiene, good sanitation and correct preparation of food are the keys to prevent polio, a contagious virus that can lead to permanent disability and death.
The virus usually thrives in areas with poor sanitation and spreads from feces into the water supply, by touch and into food.
Department of Health Usec. Eric Domingo said there is no cure for polio but it can avoided.
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“It is preventable and can be fought with vaccine,” Domingo assured. “Children are more susceptible because of their weak immune system.”
The Philippines’ last known polio case was recorded 19 years ago but the DOH recently monitored two cases—a three-year-old girl in Lanao del Sur and a five-year-old boy from Laguna.
“We are intensifying the vaccination campaign,” said Domingo. “As of last year, some three million households, mostly in Metro Manila, have no clean comfort rooms.”
Vaccines against the virus are free of charge in government health centers.
The DOH said national polio vaccination coverage target is 95 percent but currently, only between 66% to 68% have protection.
