Following the recent increase in polio cases in Nigeria, especially in the northeast, parents have been urged to support the government and its development partners by taking part in the recent rollout of the vaccine campaign to totally eradicate the virus in the country.

Alhaji Abba Ali Ibrahim, the deputy director of immunisation and disease control in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council’s state primary healthcare agency in Borno State, called on parents to heed the call to vaccinate their children against polio – and to do so as soon as possible.

He said hygiene was the most important issue concerning polio. Parents should strive to keep their homes and the environment hygienic and they should stop their children from playing in dirty water.

It was likely that the dirty, stagnant water left on roads and pavements after heavy rains had caused the recent outbreak because the virus was first detected in the drainage systems.

If there was faecal matter in the water any child who came into contact with it would probably get the polio virus. Once a child was infected – because the virus was so contagious – it would spread from person to person.

Ibrahim said if waste containing polio entered the drainage systems it would spread rapidly, especially in the wet season when the water flow was strong.

Healthline said:“As a highly contagious virus, polio transmits through contact with infected faeces. Objects, such as toys that have come near infected faeces can transmit the virus.”

The state government and its development partners had pleaded with residents to take part in the vaccination programme.

Because there was no cure for polio, having the vaccine was the only way to prevent and eradicate the virus.

Ibrahim urged parents to cooperate, saying it was the only way to stop the dreaded virus from spreading.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and its partners were driving the campaign, which was targeted at children aged 15 years and younger.

Herbalists and midwives had been given a phone number to call if they came across any suspected polio case.

Ibrahim said the campaign aimed to reach every eligible child to ensure they were vaccinated against polio.

Nigeria was declared polio-free in August last year.

The WHO and United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) emphasised at the time that achieving that milestone was not the end of the job – all children under five years had to continue to be inoculated against vaccine-preventable diseases

The Polio Global Eradication Initiative (PGEI) said despite progress, there was still much left to be done. Continued work to reach every last child with the polio vaccine, as well as strengthening surveillance and routine immunisation across the region, would be key to keeping the virus at bay and protecting the gains achieved.