Prince Misha'l Bin Majed Bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Jeddah, is to launch a five-day vaccination campaign against poliomyelitis from Saturday, Jan. 31 The campaign is being launched with the cooperation of the Ministry of Health. The campaign is part of the government measures to make the country free of poliomyelitis. All children below the age of five will be vaccinated,” said Abdulrahman Al-Sahafi, Public Relations Manager of Jeddah Health Affairs Department. The campaign targets about 215,000 children in Jeddah. Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. The virus is transmitted through contaminated food and water, and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system. Many infected people have no symptoms, but do excrete the virus in their faeces, hence transmitting infection to others. Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent. Polio can only be prevented by immunization. Primary Health Care Department has chalked out a complete strategy for the immunization campaign against polio,” said Dr. Sami Badawood, Director of Health Affairs Management. Several medical teams have been assigned to various districts of the city to cover a large number of children. These teams will visit houses in each district to ensure that no child is left without vaccination, added Al-Sahafi. “In addition we are going to put medical teams in and around important areas where people normally gather such as mosques, malls and around medical centers,” he said. The campaign will cover all the children from all nationalities and without regard to whether they have a residency permit (Iqama) or not.
