Fourth child infected with poliovirus in Sabah

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The Health Ministry is urging parents to practice ‘herd immunity’ and to have their children vaccinated against infectious diseases such as polio. File Photo

SANDAKAN: A three-year-old non-Malaysian boy in Sandakan was confirmed to be infected with the poliovirus, making him the fourth person to be diagnosed with the disease in Sabah since last year.

According to a statement by Director General of Health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the boy, who has never received the polio vaccination, was detected to have weak legs on Jan 18, 2020.

His sample was sent to the Reference Laboratory at the World Health Organisation in Australia, which came back positive with poliovirus on March 5.

The boy is reported to be in stable condition and is now being treated at a hospital here.

Four polio cases have been recorded in Sabah since last year involving two children in Sandakan aged three and eight (non-Malaysian), an 11-year-old boy in Kinabatangan (non-Malaysian) and a three-month-old infant in Tuaran (Malaysian).