World Polio Day: Health Department encourages vaccination against the disease

THE Department of Health has issued a statement urging parents and caregivers to ensure children are up-to-date with their child immunisation schedule to prevent vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio.

South Africa will join the rest of the global community to commemorate World Polio Day today (October 24) to highlight global efforts towards a polio-free world and recognise tireless efforts by health workers to eradicate the disease across the world.

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The statement read: “Polio is highly infectious and mainly affects children under the age of five years through invading the nervous system. It can cause total paralysis in a few hours and can lead to death. Initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness of the neck and pain in the limbs.”

South Africa was certified a polio-free country in 2006 by the African Regional Certification Commission (ARCC), but the risk of imported cases of polio remains high due to frequent cross-border movements or migration of people to the country, hence it is important for parents to ensure that all children are vaccinated.

The last confirmed case of the wild-type poliovirus in South Africa was in 1989.

Children should be given two doses of the vaccine – one at birth and another at six weeks.

In addition, children are also protected from polio by the doses of the hexavalent vaccine which they receive at six, ten and fourteen weeks and 18 months of age. Caregivers are encouraged to ensure children receive all of these doses.

These doses should be provided at the recommended ages – they can also be provided as catch-up doses.

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