Unwelcome return of polio

Health alert: Children lining up to get vaccinated against polio at Sigli Town Square in Pidie, Aceh province. — AP

CHILDREN in school uniforms and toddlers with their parents lined up for polio vaccinations at Sigli Town Square on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra, after four children were found infected with the highly contagious disease that was declared eliminated in the country less than a decade ago.

The virus was first detected in October in a seven-year-old boy suffering from partial paralysis in the province of Aceh near Sigli.