While many of us have been extremely worried about the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, in case you missed it, a polio outbreak returned to Malaysia on 8th December 2019. This marked the comeback of the disease after 27 years. Unfortunately, there has been another case of the disease reported in Sabah recently.
The Ministry Of Health just tweeted an announcement that the patient is a three-year-old child from Sandakan who’s not a Malaysian citizen. This brings up the total number of polio cases in Sabah since 8th March 2020 to four.
#Polio Terdapat satu lagi kes polio di Sabah melibatkan kanak-kanak bukan warganegara berumur tiga tahun di Sandakan.
Ini menjadikan 4 kes polio di Sabah sehingga 8 Mac 2020.
Selain #COVID19, penyakit polio juga semakin bertambah di negara kita dan perlu diambil perhatian. pic.twitter.com/HWvfXUFMqJ
— KKMPutrajaya (@KKMPutrajaya) March 10, 2020
In their statement, it was detailed that the boy suffered weakness in his left leg from 18th January 2020. He’s currently stable after receiving treatment from a hospital. They added that three out of the four children who were affected are not Malaysian citizens and thus have not received the polio vaccination.
During a control and prevention activity done on 24th January 2020, a two-year-old girl who’s also not a Malaysian citizen was found to be suffering from Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP). Her case was classified as polio as she was experiencing similar symptoms.
“As of 8th March 2020, all 13 samples of wastewater taken from various locations in Sabah were found to be containing the polio virus.”
This survey has been extended to the entirety of Sabah and also the other states in Malaysia to prevent late detection. From KKM’s side, the Sabah Polio Immunisation Campaign is still being exercised in stages. It involves giving the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) to children under the age of 13.
To all the parents out there, please don’t forget to vaccinate your kids according to the Malaysia Immunisation Schedule. Here’s one just for your reminder.
Just because we have the coronavirus to worry about now, please don’t forget that we’re still responsible for getting rid of polio and returning the polio-free status to Malaysia.
Also read: Warning: 2 More Boys Diagnosed With Polio In Sabah, According to MoH
