polio vaccination

Polio Vaccination Campaign to Immunize Children in Holguin

The first phase of the 64th Bivalent Oral Polio Vaccination Campaign began this April 21st throughout Cuba, and in the province of Holguin. It will benefit more than 24,800 children.

According to Dr. Norge Miguel Fernández Aguilera, provincial head of the Vaccination Program, “this vaccine comes in 20 doses per bottle, where one dose is equivalent to two drops on the tongue for each infant between one month old and those under three years old.”

He added that “this population will receive a second dose during the second phase, scheduled for June 16th and 21st of this year, at which time approximately 10,700 children who have reached nine years of age will receive a single dose.”

However, he explained, there are very specific cases where immunization is not recommended, including children with vomiting, diarrhea, fever, or immunosuppression, who will not be vaccinated until they are recovered and evaluated by their attending physician.

For this reason, a recovery week was planned from April 28 to May 3 for those who, for various reasons, were unable to be vaccinated during the corresponding week.

Immunization will take place at designated Primary Health Care (PHC) sites, including doctors’ offices, polyclinics, or vaccination centers opened for this purpose.

Parents of those vaccinated should ensure that their child does not ingest water or other food 30 minutes before and after receiving the dose, to prevent vomiting and regurgitation from eliminating the vaccine, as the chlorine in drinking water also inactivates it.

The current Bivalent Oral Polio Campaign, from April 21 to 26, coincides with the 23rd Vaccination Week of the Americas and the 14th World Immunization Week.

Although polio has been eradicated in Cuba since 1962, the year the first vaccination campaign began in our country, annual campaigns are necessary to maintain the elimination of this disease, which still persists in other parts of the world.

Hence the importance of children receiving this oral immunization. In 1995, Cuba received Polio Eradication Certification from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Translated by Aliani Rojas Fernández

Maylín Betancourt Verdecia
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