Sunyani Municipality records two confirmed cases of polio - Director

Dr Mrs Paulina Appiah, the Sunyani East Municipal Director of Health Services on Monday stated that two cases of Poliomyelitis have been recorded in the Sunyani East Municipality.

She said symptoms of the cases were detected in two children in December last year and samples taken confirmed the virus.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani, Dr Mrs Appiah said the two children from Nkrankrom and Kotokrom respectively in the Municipality were between ages four months and four years.

She said what made the disease so dangerous was that if one case was confirmed it signified transmission in a community.

“But fortunately, two rounds of oral polio vaccinations took place in January and February 2020 in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions which was followed by a nationwide inactivated (injection) polio vaccination,” Dr. Mrs Appiah said.

She expressed worry that because the injection was administered mainly at predetermined sites and schools, it was possible that not all eligible children were reached.

Dr Mrs Appiah, therefore, advised parents with eligible children born from January 2016 to February 2018 who did not receive the vaccination to present them to any nearest health facility or outreach point that provides vaccination services for them to be vaccinated.

She said the Municipal Health Directorate did not want to leave any child unattended to because such children could be at risk of being infected.

Dr Mrs Appiah again entreated parents whose children had either suddenly become paralyzed or shown any symptoms of the disease to report quickly at any health facility and advised the public to ensure best sanitation practices because “the virus is shed in stools”.

She stressed the need for handwashing with soap under running water, good hygiene and sanitation since they were effective protective measures and entreated mothers with children under five years to continue to send them to child welfare clinics to receive all their vaccines too.