No Reason To Panic About Polio

THE current outbreak of polio in Namibia, the first in 10 years, is of course a very serious matter which is being treated by Government with urgency, but at the same time people should avoid hysteria and panic about the situation.

The Ministry of Health and Social Services, after initial confusion about the virus, has now identified it as Polio Virus Type 1, which has been ‘imported’ into Namibia. After revelations by media of a ‘mysterious disease’, which has to date claimed the lives of seven people, panic set in among certain sections of the public, but the Ministry has continues to urge calm.Certain media reporting did not help matters but fed into the hysteria, so it is important that we emphasise there is a need for calm and measured actions.Alarmist headlines in turn prompted people to rush to clinics and chemists to obtain the vaccine, which, as the Ministry subsequently pointed out, were not the correct measures, and so everyone will have to take the new vaccine once it arrives.The Ministry of Health has announced a national immunisation campaign once sufficient quantities of the vaccine have arrived, through Unicef, and people are urged to wait until this happens and then take themselves and their families along to clinics and other health points for vaccination.In the meantime, people should observe the health measures recommended by the Ministry which include washing hands after using the toilet and/or eating; washing and cooking of all unpackaged foods such as fruit and/or vegetables; and boiling of water before drinking if the origins thereof are suspect.The Ministry added that the monovalent Oral Polio Vaccine (mOPV) is currently not available in Namibia and so people who are buying what is available are taking the wrong medication and compromising their health.The Permanent Secretary of Health, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, also called on medical staff to stop spreading panic by, among others, wearing of masks and gloves when treating people suspected of having polio.In fact, the Ministry pointed out, polio is spread, not as an airborne virus, but via faecal-oral means.They also called for the cessation of vaccination of people with trivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (tOPV), which was generally reserved for national immunisation campaigns for children under five years.Ingestion of this vaccine, the Ministry warned, might undermine effectiveness of the national immunisation campaign due to commence once the correct vaccine has been received.The Ministry said the vaccine was expected to arrive on June 16, after which the national vaccination campaign will start on June 21.Obviously it is regretted that Namibia, for a decade a polio-free zone, has once again been affected by this epidemic.However, if the national immunisation campaign is thoroughly done, we can again make Namibia a polio-free area.Hopefully too, the Ministry will make all efforts to ensure that they find the source of importation of the virus into Namibia.Already the Ministry has hinted that it is now known to be of the Indian type, which was isolated in Angola last year.Knowing where it came from and how, will certainly assist the country in ridding the nation of this potentially lethal virus once again.We call on the public to take heed of the Ministry’s advice, take thorough health and sanitation precautions as advised and ensure they are immunised when the campaign commences.After revelations by media of a ‘mysterious disease’, which has to date claimed the lives of seven people, panic set in among certain sections of the public, but the Ministry has continues to urge calm.Certain media reporting did not help matters but fed into the hysteria, so it is important that we emphasise there is a need for calm and measured actions.Alarmist headlines in turn prompted people to rush to clinics and chemists to obtain the vaccine, which, as the Ministry subsequently pointed out, were not the correct measures, and so everyone will have to take the new vaccine once it arrives.The Ministry of Health has announced a national immunisation campaign once sufficient quantities of the vaccine have arrived, through Unicef, and people are urged to wait until this happens and then take themselves and their families along to clinics and other health points for vaccination.In the meantime, people should observe the health measures recommended by the Ministry which include washing hands after using the toilet and/or eating; washing and cooking of all unpackaged foods such as fruit and/or vegetables; and boiling of water before drinking if the origins thereof are suspect.The Ministry added that the monovalent Oral Polio Vaccine (mOPV) is currently not available in Namibia and so people who are buying what is available are taking the wrong medication and compromising their health.The Permanent Secretary of Health, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, also called on medical staff to stop spreading panic by, among others, wearing of masks and gloves when treating people suspected of having polio.In fact, the Ministry pointed out, polio is spread, not as an airborne virus, but via faecal-oral means.They also called for the cessation of vaccination of people with trivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (tOPV), which was generally reserved for national immunisation campaigns for children under five years.Ingestion of this vaccine, the Ministry warned, might undermine effectiveness of the national immunisation campaign due to commence once the correct vaccine has been received.The Ministry said the vaccine was expected to arrive on June 16, after which the national vaccination campaign will start on June 21.Obviously it is regretted that Namibia, for a decade a polio-free zone, has once again been affected by this epidemic.However, if the national immunisation campaign is thoroughly done, we can again make Namibia a polio-free area.Hopefully too, the Ministry will make all efforts to ensure that they find the source of importation of the virus into Namibia.Already the Ministry has hinted that it is now known to be of the Indian type, which was isolated in Angola last year.Knowing where it came from and how, will certainly assist the country in ridding the nation of this potentially lethal virus once again.We call on the public to take heed of the Ministry’s advice, take thorough health and sanitation precautions as advised and ensure they are immunised when the campaign commences.