We join the rest of the world, which marked World Polio Day three days ago, in uncompromising efforts at overcoming the final bars to eradicating poliomyelitis, a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease.
This is caused by the poliovirus, which spreads from person to person and can invade an infected person’s brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis, the most severe symptom associated with polio because it can lead to permanent disability and death.
The virus lives in an infected person’s throat and intestines, and enters the body through the mouth and spreads through contact with the feces of an infected person and, while less common, through droplets from a sneeze or cough.
As we take a stand, it is only obligatory that we have on the mirror what people with poliovirus infection would have: flu-like symptoms which may include sore throat, fever, fatigue, nausea, headache and stomach pain—symptoms that last two to five days then go away on their own.
We salute as well Rotary International, which has been working to eradicate polio for more than 30 years, which is a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication initiative—their efforts have helped reduce polio cases by more than 99.9 percent.
But last month the Department of Health declared a polio epidemic after it recorded a case of the disease in Lanao del Sur, the country’s first confirmed case after 19 years of being polio-free.
The DOH, which said it found Type 1 poliovirus in Manila and Type 2 in Davao, sees a low vaccination coverage, poor early surveillance of polio symptoms, and substandard sanitation practices as jailbirds in this reappearance.
Type 1 poliovirus is the known cause of the few cases existing in the world today while Type 2 poliovirus has been declared eradicated in September 2015, with the last virus detected in 1999 in India.
With the rest of the world challenged by this polio nightmare, we can find hope and strength in what was said by Jonas Edward Salk, the American medical researcher and virologist, who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines.
He said: “There is hope in dreams, imagination, and in the courage of those who wish to make those dreams a reality.”