5 Normin kids show polio symptoms

By Uriel C. Quilinguing, Contributing Editor

SPECIMENS were taken from five children from Northern Mindanao who have been suffering from acute flaccid paralysis, a regional health official yesterday said.

Dr. Adriano Suba-an, director of the Department of Health in Region 10, disclosed this even as the region posted a 101.18% coverage in a two-week polio outbreak response immunization that ended Sunday.

“We’re investigating five cases of acute flaccid paralysis, three in Misamis Oriental and two in Bukidnon,” said Suba-an, adding that AFP is a common sign of polio and such is used for disease surveillance during outbreaks.

This, he said, is a sudden onset of paralysis or weakness in any part of the body of a child less than 15 years of age.

Suba-an said the region’s performance, of immunizing 590,978 children under five years old is way over the 95% coverage target and an improvement of the third-round 90% performance.

Eligible population for polio immunization for five provinces and nine cities in Northern Mindanao was 854,078.

In December last year, 46 specimens from people with acute flaccid paralysis in the region were tested negative for poliovirus by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

The samples were taken for laboratory examinations during the 12-day third round of polio outbreak response immunization that started Nov. 25 last year.

Dr. Elma Oclarit, head of DOH-Region 10’s family health cluster, said then that the samples came from the disease reporting units of Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, and Camiguin.

“Laboratory results showed the AFP cases were not due to poliovirus since these symptoms could be due to other diseases,” said Oclarit.

Polio or poliomyelitis is a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. The virus can spread from person to person and can invade an infected person’s brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis.