Philippines has four more cases of polio, including one in Quezon City —DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday confirmed that four more polio cases were recorded in the Philippines, bringing the total number of cases tallied since September last year to 16.

The Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) said two of the new cases were recorded in Maguindanao.

Both patients were male and aged two and three years old.

The third new case is a two-year-old male from Sultan Kudarat, while the fourth case is a three-year-old male from Quezon City.

The patients displayed symptoms such as fever, diarrhea, muscle pain, asymmetric ascending paralysis, and weakness of extremities.

The DOH has extended its nationwide vaccination campaign, with new rounds scheduled for January 20 to February 2 in Mindanao and January 27 to February 7 in Metro Manila.

“I urge all parents and caregivers of children under five years old to take part in the coming campaign rounds scheduled in your respective areas... Additional polio doses can provide additional protection to your children,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a statement.

The DOH and local governments aim to achieve a 95% coverage of children in the identified areas for the latest rounds of the vaccination campaign.

The DOH also urged all health facilities to immediately report any case of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) in children below 15 years old.

“The outbreak must be put to a halt, and we can only do this if all our health facilities are achieving the targets for all AFP surveillance indicators, and if… all of the target population are reached and vaccinated,” Duque said. —NB, GMA News