The polio virus thrives and spreads in unsanitary conditions-Dr Dzokoto

Dr. Senanu Kwesi Dzokoto, Volta Regional Deputy Director of Health, in charge of Public Health, has asked citizens to keep their surroundings clean as a preventive protocol against the polio virus.

He said that “the polio virus thrives and spreads, where there are unsanitary conditions,” so it was important for everyone to support the health service in its quest to eradicate the disease by maintaining a clean environment.

Dr. Dzokoto, who made this statement at a press and stakeholder meeting in Ho, said that Ghana confirmed two polio virus type 2 events in environmental monitoring samples at Koblimagu in the northern metropolis of Tamale. and in Agbogbloshie in the metropolis of Accra in the Greater Accra region. in July and August 2019 respectively.

The meeting was to solicit the support of the media and other relevant stakeholders during the second round of the third phase of the polio immunization campaign, which is scheduled to take place between October 8-11, 2020.

The campaign targeted more than four and a half million children in the Ashanti, Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, Volta, Upper West, Western and Western North regions where the first round took place and all the children who were vaccinated during phase one and those who did not receive it were qualified to be dosed during this second round.

Dr. Dzokoto said that the first human case of polio virus type 2 was also confirmed in August 2019 in a sample from a two-year-nine-month-old girl in the Chereponi district in the northeast region who developed acute flaccid paralysis. (AFP) or flaccid lower limbs. .

The deputy director said that polio is an infectious disease that could affect the spinal cord causing muscle weakness and paralysis, and that one could contract the disease by eating or drinking contaminated food and water, respectively.

Dr Dzokoto said that the virus outbreak in the country had been linked to an ongoing outbreak in the West African subregion, however any country that had its population fully immunized would be protected against all forms of poliovirus, hence the need to ensure that all eligible children received all routine immunizations on time.

“Currently, 11 of the 16 regions of the country have confirmed at least one case or reported an environmental event of a type 2 polio outbreak.

Vaccine-derived poliovirus outbreaks can be stopped with 2 or 3 rounds of complementary vaccination activities that would increase children’s immunity levels, ”he said.

Referring to the COVID-19 situation, Dr. Dzokoto said that the region currently has two active cases, which are all under treatment, and the death toll remains at twelve (12) in the last two months.

He said a total of 672 cases of routine surveillance, contact tracing, mandatory quarantine, and target group for detection had been confirmed since the Region registered its first case in April 2020, of which 658 of them had fully recovered. and discharged from isolation.

Dr Dzokoto said that the Regional Public Health Emergency Management Committee and the Ghana Health Service had worked well and continued to collaborate with all stakeholders to maintain the Region’s capacity to handle the COVID 19 pandemic.

“Sponsorship of routine services has improved markedly as people continue to gain confidence in the security protocols that have been implemented in health facilities throughout the Region,” he said.