(Eagle News) — The Department of Health has recorded four more polio cases in the country, bringing the number of cases since an outbreak was declared in September 2019 to 16.
The DOH said of the four, two were males aged two and three from Maguindanao.
One was a two-year-old male from Sultan Kudarat and the other a three-year-old male from Quezon City.
The DOH said the children experienced fever, diarrhea, muscle pain, asymmetric ascending paralysis, and weakness of extremities.
As a result, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III reiterated his call for parents and caregivers of children under five years old to allow the minors to receive vaccination through the DOH’s Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio scheduled in several areas.
“Have your children, including those with private physicians or pediatricians, vaccinated with oral polio vaccine by health workers and ‘bakunators’. Additional polio doses can provide additional protection to your children,” Duque said.
The DOH declared the outbreak on Sept. 19, 2019 after one case was recorded in Lanao del Sur.
Until then, the Philippines had been declared polio-free by the World Health Organization.
