PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Sunday reported its 19th polio case for the ongoing year, taking the countrywide tally for the disease to 38.
According to the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), a two-year-old girl was diagnosed with poliovirus in Jandola district of Tank in KP. The samples of the child had been sent to the laboratory for diagnosis on February 21.
The case was further confirmed by the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad.
The EOC further revealed that the girl had not been administered the polio vaccine during the routine drives.
On March 31, three more polio cases had surfaced in KP after which the tally in the province had mounted to 18.
EOC Coordinator Abdul Basit had said that the new polio cases were reported from Lakki Marwat, Karak and Tank districts. He had said that a six-month-old child in Karak, 19-month-old boy in Tank and nine-month-old girl in Lakki Marwat had been diagnosed with poliovirus.
He had said that it was revealed after investigation that the affected children were not provided polio vaccination by their parents.
Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by the poliovirus mainly affecting children under the age of five. It invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis or even death. While there is no cure for polio, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from the virus. Each time a child under the age of five is vaccinated, their protection against the virus is increased. Repeated immunisations have protected millions of children from polio, allowing almost all countries in the world to become polio-free. However, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the poliovirus continues to remain in circulation. Lately, polio outbreaks have been reported in six other Asian countries which include China, Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.
Polio vaccination campaign has already been suspended in all parts of the country due to the prevailing threat of coronavirus spread. The authorities in Pakistan have to battle poliovirus and coronavirus at the same time. However, the refusing parents are the main stumbling block. In the current year’s tally, half of the cases are from KP, which means the situation in the province is more precarious than the rest of the country.
