SINGAPORE, Feb 8 — Singapore’s Health Ministry (MOH) has confirmed one imported case of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis, with findings so far indicating a low risk of community transmission.
The ministry stated that the patient, a five-month-old Indonesian girl, was medically evacuated from Indonesia for treatment of her symptoms and arrived in Singapore on Jan 26.
She was admitted directly to the National University Hospital (NUH) upon arrival and is currently in stable condition.
“The case is immunocompromised and was previously vaccinated with one dose of oral polio vaccine (OPV) and one dose of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) in Indonesia.
“She developed fever, acute floppiness, and paralysis of the lower limbs in December 2024 while in Indonesia. Poliomyelitis was not suspected by her doctor at that time,” it said in a statement.
MOH said the infant was isolated upon admission and placed under appropriate infection prevention and control measures to prevent further spread after poliomyelitis, commonly known as polio, was suspected.
Three close contacts, who are family members and caregivers, have been quarantined as a precautionary measure.
Singapore has not reported any locally acquired cases of polio since 1978. The last polio case reported in 2006 was an imported case.
The ministry noted that Singapore has maintained its polio-free status by ensuring high polio vaccination coverage, maintaining high standards of environmental hygiene and sanitation, and having an established surveillance system to detect potential cases.
According to MOH, poliomyelitis is caused by the poliovirus and is mainly transmitted through food contaminated with faecal material.
Vaccination remains the most effective protection against poliomyelitis, along with maintaining good hygiene and sanitation.
There are two types of polio vaccines: OPV, which contains live attenuated (weakened) poliovirus, and IPV, which contains no live poliovirus. Many countries have gradually switched to IPV, and Singapore stopped using OPV in 2021.
MOH stated that since IPV does not contain live virus, it carries no risk of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis.
Vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis is an extremely rare adverse event that occurs when an individual develops paralytic polio after receiving OPV.
“The risk is higher for immunocompromised persons, for whom IPV is recommended instead of OPV,” MOH explained. — Bernama
