SANDAKAN: Two more cases of poliomyelitis (polio) have been detected here, bringing the total number of children infected with the re-emerging disease in Sabah to three.
The new cases were detected after the Health Ministry implemented preventive and control measures in the state after a 3-month-old boy in Tuaran was the first to be diagnosed with the disease.
Health Ministry director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said both of the new victims’ stool samples have been sent to the World Health Organisation Polio Regional Reference Laboratory (WHO Polio RRL) in Melbourne, Australia for confirmation and genetic sequencing.
“On Jan 9, the virus isolated from both cases was confirmed to be the polio virus by the WHO Polio RRL.
“The test also confirmed that the virus for the three cases has genetic associations with polio cases in the Philippines,” he said in a statement, adding that both children are immigrants who were never immunised.
One of the victims is an 11-year-old boy living in Kinabatangan, near here, who was brought to a clinic for having fever since Nov 17, last year. The boy was hospitalised on Dec 1 after he complained of back pain and had to use a walking stick.
The second victim is an 8-year-old from here, who has suffered paralysis and was placed on a ventilator three days after becoming feverish on Dec 9.
“With the confirmation of the two latest polio cases, it makes three positive polio cases in Sabah.
“All of the patients are still receiving treatment in hospital and are stable,” Dr Noor Hisham added.
Following the confirmation of the cases here, the ministry inspected 705 people in the areas where both children live.
“There were 65 children (in those areas) who missed their polio immunisation and (have since) been given polio vaccine injections,” he said.
The large-scale Sabah Polio Immunisation 2019/2020 initiative, which began on Dec 27, is targeting all children aged 5 and below in the state.
Each child is given two doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV) to boost immunity in their intestines to fight against the polio virus should they become infected. It also prevents the spread of the disease in the community.