KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 — Two more children have been infected with the polio virus in Sabah, after a three-month baby boy was diagnosed with the disease in Tuaran in December last year.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, in confirming this, said the two boys, aged eight and 11, are foreigners.
“The eight-year-old boy from Sandakan was not vaccinated. On December 9, he had fever and three days later, he could not walk.
“Another boy in Kinabatangan, who was also not vaccinated, had fever on November 17 and was treated at a clinic. On December 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 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 Organisation Polio Regional Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia found the polio virus that 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 revealed an acute flaccid paralysis (AFP).
To date, 705 residents from the villages of the two boys have been screened and there were no AFP cases recorded.
The 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 preventive measures as advised by the ministry.
— Bernama
