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Philippines Declares Polio Epidemic and Launches New Immunization Campaign
This appeared in The Millennial Source
On September 19, 2019, the Philippines announced the re-emergence of polio within the country. The announcement came 19 years after the WHO declared the infectious disease eradicated on the islands in 2000. The announcement came following two confirmed cases of polio, a 3-year-old girl from Lanao del Sur in the Davao region, and a 5-year old boy from Laguna province, south of Manila.
In addition, the poliovirus was detected in samples taken from Davao waterways and the sewage in Manila. According to the Philippines Department of Health, a single confirmed polio case or the collection of two positive, genetically linked environmental samples from separate locations is considered an epidemic in a polio-free country.
What is polio, and how does it spread?
Polio is a highly infectious disease that primarily affects children under five years old. It can cause irreversible paralysis, and 5–10% of paralysis cases are fatal due to loss of function of breathing muscles. Polio spreads by direct contact and through the poliovirus entering the environment via the feces of infected patients. There is currently no known cure for the disease, but it can be prevented by…
