Health
Quezon City to intensify polio surveillance drive
Belmonte instructed the Quezon City Health Department (QCHD) to closely coordinate with the DOH to ensure the eradication of the disease.
(PNA file photo)
MANILA — Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Thursday said the city government would intensify its surveillance campaign against polio following a new case of the disease in the area.
This, after the Department of Health (DOH) reported that a three-year-old boy from Sitio Kaliwa, Batasan Hills was tested positive for polio.
Belmonte instructed the Quezon City Health Department (QCHD) to closely coordinate with the DOH to ensure the eradication of the disease.
The initial investigation of the QCHD showed the boy received five doses of the anti-polio vaccine — the first three vaccines were administered when he was an infant and the other two during the DOH’s “Sabayang Pagpatak” campaign last year.
He first showed symptoms of paralysis on Nov. 30, 2019. He underwent a battery of tests at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) which turned positive for Type 2 Polio.
“Hindi nagpabaya ang lokal na pamahalaan sa tungkulin nitong magbakuna, bantayan at iulat ang posibleng kaso ng polyo (The local government had been responsible in the vaccination, monitoring and reporting of possible polio cases),” Belmonte said.
She added the city government would hold another round of vaccination drive against polio as soon as the needed supply from DOH arrives and conduct a massive information campaign to encourage residents to practice proper hygiene and handwashing.
