Parents Urged to Immunise Children

The Gauteng health department has called on parents to ensure that their children are immunised to prevent them from contracting Polio.

The plea, by provincial health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa, forms part of the province's weeklong drive to educate communities about the dangers of the disease.

The campaign commenced in the province yesterday, with a massive inoculation campaign to prevent children from contracting polio as part of its activities for the current health month.

Polio is a viral infection that can lead to permanent paralysis. It is caused by a virus, which leads to inflammation of the grey matter found in the spinal cord.

Most people infected with the virus show no symptoms although others have fever, headache, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, cough, runny nose, stiff neck, muscle weakness, or paralysis.

This virus can be transmitted through coughing or sneezing or oral transmission like failure to wash ones hands properly before eating.

The department has urged parents and caregivers to ensure that all children under the age of one were immunised to prevent diseases.

'All clinics in the province are to take part in the campaign and health workers will be going into communities to have children immunised,' said a statement issued by the department.

It added that failure to vaccinate children on time could have adverse consequences.

'A recent survey commissioned by the department has found that most children were vaccinated in the province but a significant number of them, about three out of ten, were not vaccinated on time to ensure good immunity.'

If vaccination is done too late there is a risk that diseases would not be prevented.

The department said it is recommended that children should be vaccinated between the five and eight weeks after birth. Repeat vaccination should be done after 21 days of the last vaccination and not later than 60 days.

The survey also found that that more than 70 percent of all parents - in informal houses and suburbs - use their local public clinics for immunisation while one out of ten use private clinics.

The respondents said they used public clinics because they were accessible and offered good service.

South Africa has not seen a single polio case since 1992 and has set it itself a target to be declared polio-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO) by the end of 2005.

With 1000 days left to the target date, the province is intensifying its drive to have all children vaccinated against the disease.

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.