DOH confirms PHL's fourth polio case

The Department of Health (DOH) has confirmed the fourth polio case in the Philippines on Tuesday evening.

The DOH, in a press statement, did not provide details of the case, just that the patient is from Mindanao.

"The test conducted by our Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and the Institute of Infectious Diseases- Japan confirms the fourth polio case in the country," Health Secretary Francisco Duque said in the statement.

The DOH is currently spearheading a vaccination campaign for children below five years of age in the municipalities where the third and fourth polio cases were discovered. 

The DOH will be administering the next round of polio vaccinations in Mindanao from November 25 to December 8.

"We can defeat polio, but we need the public to trust and actively participate in our immunization programs," Duque said.

The health department reminds the public that the best prevention to polio is vaccination.

"The (polio) virus is transmitted through the oral-fecal route. Handwashing will also help in the prevention."

It was in September that the agency confirmed the re-emergence of polio in the country with its first case in Lanao del Sur. The Philippines had been polio-free for 19 years. — BAP, GMA News