Malawi has started a vaccination programme across the commercial city of Blantyre after derived poliovirus was found in sewage samples.
The initiative is targeting eight districts of Blantyre, which is the country’s second largest city.
Children under the age of five are particularly vulnerable to the disease, as Dr Akosua Sika Ayisi, public health physician at the World Health Organisation, explained.
There is no cure for polio, making vaccine programmes all the more important.
Health officials hope to roll out the programme in more districts.
Dr Joe Collins Opio, UNICEF Malawi Chief of Health, said, “After this initial phase, we hope in four weeks we will have a national response across the 29 districts. It will be a national response and again we call on every person to be part of the response because it is the responsibility of each one of us who has a child to make sure that each of our children are vaccinated against polio and it is the only way we can protect our children against polio.”
Symptoms of polio include fatigue, fever, vomiting and headaches. In severe cases it can lead to paralysis.
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