The Department of Health said on Friday that there are now 25 polio infections recorded in the Philippines since the disease re-emerged in September 2019.
According to DOH immunization program manager Dr. Wilda Silva, 16 of these cases, recorded until June 3, 2020, have experienced permanent disability.
“These are already patients with permanent disability. Ito po yung nagkaroon na ng pagkaparalisa ng lower extremities secondary to the poliovirus,” she said in an online forum.
Meanwhile, the nine others did not suffer from disability but were detected to be shedding poliovirus.
The age of the children who contracted polio infection ranged from one to nine years and most of them came from Mindanao.
Silva explained that the polio present in the Philippines is caused by the vaccine-derived poliovirus.
The Philippines just saw a re-emergence of polio in September last year after 19 years of being declared free from the disease. The first confirmed case of polio in 2019 was recorded in Lanao Del Sur.
Since August last year, Silva said the DOH has been able to conduct nine successful immunization campaigns in the National Capital Region and all regions of Mindanao using “a type-specific vaccine to type-specific outbreak.”
She added that Round 3 of Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio in Mindanao was conducted from July 20, 2020 to August 2, 2020, covering 3.4 million children or 98.1 percent of the target.
Silva acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic has also affected polio immunization in the first semester of the year, especially in areas where the transmission of coronavirus is prevalent.
“NCR as well as Region IV-A are not performing very well. They have mentioned that because of the COVID-19 situation, their areas being the epicenter of COVID-19, is really hindering their performance or giving routine immunization services,” she said.
Some areas in Laguna such as Calamba City and Pakil town decided to postpone the Round 1 Phase 1 of Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio on August 3, she said.
The DOH targets to vaccinate 1.1 million children in Calabarzon and 1.3 million in Central Luzon. New rounds of polio immunizations are scheduled in the regions in September.
Meanwhile, polio immunization efforts in Ilocos Region, Bicol Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Cordillera Administrative Region are faring well despite the pandemic, Silva said.