Dr Christina Rundi
KOTA KINABALU: The state Health Department will be conducting a mass immunization campaign for polio and is seeking public cooperation for its efforts to ensure that people are vaccinated.
“We will be conducting a huge immunization campaign for polio and this is the step we are taking to boost immunization coverage in Sabah (and) in localities where we feel there is risk.
“What we want now is to increase the percentage of immunization and that is what the state Health Department is doing. We may not be able to determine accurately the origin of the virus but the fact remains that it is now present in the state and we must protect the population,” said Health Department director Dr Christina Rundi.
Dr Christina told a press conference that the districts where the campaign will initially be conducted are Tuaran, Kota Kinabalu, Penampang, Putatan, Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Kunak and Semporna.
The districts were selected because the department’s ‘acute flaccid paralysis’ (AFP) surveillance had reported some symptomatic case in the past, she said adding that the immunization program will involve children under seven years old.
“This is not because there are polio cases in the area. For instance the case of the baby in Tuaran who was diagnosed with polio, he was detected through the department’s AFP surveillance.
“They noticed the symptoms and did the necessary tests for confirmation. Otherwise the baby would have been treated for something else. The symptoms were suggestive that there might be some weakness (in the baby so) this means the surveillance works.
“And since there has been no polio cases since 1992, we needed to get double, even triple confirmation before we reported it. That is why it took some time before we reported it,” said Dr Christina.
She added that other than the AFP surveillance, the department will also conduct an environmental one as the virus is secreted in faeces and enters our system orally.
“Maybe the virus is circulated in the sewage so we also take sample of the sewage to be tested. But at the moment all our environmental samples tested negative. This is part of the surveillance,” she said.
To a question on what constitutes as high risk areas, Dr Christina said these are areas where the immunization coverage is low.
“Although they know the importance of immunization, some are unable to get their children vaccinated due to several factors such as no access in terms of logistics, financial as well as resources available to them. This will result in low immunization coverage,” she said.
“Even if the coverage is high you still need to go in because there are some pocket areas where people are not immunized,” she added, adding that it is all hands on deck for the campaign and this includes assistance from local leaders.
When asked if the State Government will now be screening foreigners entering Sabah for polio also, Dr Christina said no as it is not the routine as many countries have attained the polio free status.
The disease has been eradicated as vaccine is now available, she said adding, “however there are a few countries that have reported cases of ‘wild polio’ and we know these are places which do not have proper health system such as a war zone etc.”
“It is all about immunization and the immunization program is easily available in both government health facilities and private practitioners in Sabah. A fee will be imposed on non-Malaysians. It is just whether they want access to it or not,” she said.