The Department of Disease Control is warning intending visitors to Laos that new cases of the acute viral disease poliomyelitis. which can lead to paralysis, are being reported there.
The department said in a statement released on Monday that it received a report on the outbreak of a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) in Savannakhet province of Laos.
The report was based on the detection of the disease in two children in the province who did not show any symptoms on Oct 7, and an earlier case of the virus infection in the same province in August.
‘This shows an outbreak of the disease in the area,’ the department said.
Dr Montien Kanasawat, director-general of the department, said the outbreak of poliovirus infections in Savannakhet was first noticed in August, when cVDPV1 was detected in an ill child who had weak limbs.
Subsequent investigation found the virus in the faeces of two other children out of 28 children tested. They did not have any symptom but were connected with the first case found in August, he said.
‘There are risks of the disease spreading to Thailand, especially in border areas with low vaccination,’ the director-general said.
He said polio is a severe disease which may inflame the spinal cord and consequently paralyse muscles. Patients have weak arms and legs and can be disabled permanently, or die. The disease can be transmitted from human to human through the consumption of contaminated food or water. There is no known cure for polio, but vaccination can prevent it.
Dr Direk Khampaen, deputy director-general of the department, said disease control officials implemented surveillance measures including screening travellers at crossings along the border with Laos.
He recommended vaccination for Thai children aged one to five and foreign children aged under 15 in at-risk provinces – Mukdahan, Amnat Charoen, Ubon Ratchathani and Nakhon Phanom.
Intending visitors to Laos should get booster shots if they had no polio vaccination record, or were inadequately vaccinated, Dr Direk said.