Two more children infected with polio in Sabah - Health Ministry

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10  -- Two more children have been confirmed infected with polio virus in Sabah after a three-month baby boy was recorded having the disease in Tuaran in December last year.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the two boys, aged eight and 11 were foreigners.

"The eight-year-old boy who is from Sandakan was found not vaccinated against polio. On Dec 9 2019, he had fever and three days later, he could not walk.

“Another boy in Kinabatangan who was also not vaccinated, had fever on Nov 17 2019 and was treated at a clinic. On Dec 1, he was admitted to the hospital after complaining of back pain and was unable to walk. The patient is now able to walk with a walking stick,” he said in a statement here today.

He said all patients are still being treated at the hospital and are in stable condition.

Dr Noor Hisham said tests at the World Health Organization Polio Regional Reference Laboratory (WHO Polio RRL) in Melbourne, Australia found the polio virus which infected all three patients have genetic links with the polio case in Philippines.

He said detailed investigations conducted to identify the source of infection in the two new cases found they were having acute flaccid paralysis (AFP). 

To date, 705 residents from the villages of the two boys had been screened and there were no AFP cases recorded.

The Health Ministry is calling on Sabahans especially parents to pay attention to their children's vaccination requirements by getting two dosages of oral polio vaccine during an ongoing campaign.

He also reminded the people to obtain early treatment at the clinic and hospital if there were symptoms of polio and take the preventive measures as advised by the Health Ministry.

-- BERNAMA