Polio is a highly infectious disease, mostly affecting young children, that attacks the nervous system and can lead to spinal and respiratory paralysis, and in some cases death. The virus can be spread through contact with an infected person. This is most often done through virus in stool or oral …
Read More »Malawi declares Africa’s first polio case in years
A case of wild polio has emerged in Africa for the first time in five years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. Malawian health authorities have declared an outbreak of wild poliovirus type 1 after a case was detected in the capital Lilongwe, the WHO said. The poliovirus paralysed …
Read More »Cameroon detects 2 cases of polio
Cameroon has launched an awareness campaign among the population after two cases of polio were detected in Yaounde, health officials said Thursday. “The response consists of sensitizing communities for the observation of hygiene measures, intensification of routine immunization, and epidemiological surveillance,” Dr. José Shalom Tchokfe, head of the Ministry of …
Read More »Bawumia holds talks with Bill Gates on polio immunisation
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on Monday, September 14, 2020 held discussions via zoom with Microsoft founder Bill Gates on Ghana’s progress on immunisation against the new circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2). The discussion according to Dr Bawumia also centred around the lessons from Ghana’s policy response to COVID-19 and the country’s digitisation …
Read More »Africa to be declared free of wild polio in ‘milestone’
Africa is to be declared free from wild polio by the independent body, the Africa Regional Certification Commission. Polio usually affects children under five, sometimes leading to irreversible paralysis. Death can occur when breathing muscles are affected by the paralysis. There is no cure but the polio vaccine protects children …
Read More »Poliovirus detected in Koforidua – GHS
The Ghana Health Service has detected a strain of Poliovirus (Polimylitis ) in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional Capital. The polio virus was found recently in the polluted Nsukwao river which flows through both New Juaben North and South Municipality. The virus was detected through routine surveillance by a team of …
Read More »Over 2million Ghanaian children not protected against polio
It has been revealed that over two million Ghanaian infants are at risk of been infected with poliomyelitis and needed to be vaccinated as early as possible. This was made known in the Upper East Region during a press encounter with the Ghana Health Service(GHS). The delay in the early …
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