|
|
Cameroon: Wild Polio Virus Discovered
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Cameroon Tribune (Yaoundé)
3 April 2008
Posted to the web 3 April 2008
Brenda Yufeh
It has led to a local polio campaign which will take place in the Littoral, South West and the Far North Provinces.
In November 2007 at the New Bell neighbourhood in Douala, a five-year old child was discovered with the wild polio virus. This was confirmed on the 29 of February 2008 by a laboratory in Johannesburg, South Africa. The child who had type one, two and three of the polio virus was also suffering from the HIV/AIDS virus. Unfortunately, the child died some months ago.
Experts say the death of the child is as a result of the polio virus. This is why yesterday in Yaounde, the Secretary General at the Ministry of Public Health, Professor Fru Angwafor III, chaired a preventive vaccination campaign meeting against polio. The Secretary General noted that the fight against polio is a topical issue at the international level especially amongst neighbouring countries such as Chad and Nigeria which share borders with Cameroon. Given that the virus is transmitted rapidly from one person to another, Fru Angwafor noted that it is but necessary to organise the current campaign.
From 4 to 6 April the Ministry of Public Health with its partners will organise a polio vaccination campaign in all health districts of the Littoral Province. During the campaign, children in all health districts in the Far-North and South-West Provinces will also be vaccinated because these provinces are considered more exposed to the polio virus due to its proximity to Chad and Nigeria. That is why professor Fru Angwafor III calls on all parents in the region concerned to make sure their children are vaccinated whatever the situation.
The Permanent Secretary of the National Immunisation Programme, Dr Nomo Emmanuel, said although the polio virus persists in West and Central Africa, the situation has ameliorated in Cameroon. From 2005-2007 the number of districts with polio reduced from 297 to 173 that is 42 per cent reduction. The current polio campaign targets some 1915448 children from 0-59 months. In the Littoral Province some 572417 children are targeted while 306418 and 1036614 for the South West and Far North Provinces respectively.
|
To effectively eradicate polio from Cameroon, experts say any child should take at least 10 doses of the vaccine. Dr Nomo says the ministry has put in place all that it takes for each child targeted to be vaccinated thus parents and other parties involved should collaborate for a successful campaign period.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 Cameroon Tribune. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
