KARACHI: The Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio in Sindh on Saturday confirmed two new polio cases for the year 2020, one from Jacobabad and other from Mirpurkhas district, taking the province’s total tally of polio cases to 30 and Pakistan to 144.
Sindh EOC Spokesperson said that in Jacobabad, a 60 month old male child has been affected by polio with weakness in his lower right limb. According to parents, he had received 7 doses of OPV and an investigation is ongoing into these claims.
Similarly, in Mirpurkhas, a 48 month old male child has been affected by the polio virus with weakness in his right limb as well as neck muscles. His parents also claim he had received OPV on multiple occasions.
The EOC Spokesperson said that Sindh’s National EOC has started to fight back to get polio eradication on track and reverse this trend.
“Efforts from December to April will bridge the immunity gap that will lead to a significant decrease in the intensity of virus transmission in the 2nd half of 2020,” he said.
“The current risk to our children is very real and while it is our job to deliver these vaccines at the doorstep, caregivers must also step up and protect their children through vaccinations,” he added.
Both the National and Sindh EOC urged parents to ensure immunisation of their children both in routine as well as special campaigns planned by the programme during the next few months.
