Zunaira: Lakki Marwat’s beacon of hope against immunisation

Two-year-old had tested positive for the virus but shows none of the symptoms

PESHAWAR: For the parents of two-year-old Zunaira, the news that their young daughter was infected by the crippling poliovirus seemed like a punch in their gut.

But when the toddler seemingly just shook the infection off and began to walk normally, it not only lifted her distraught parents up but also left the medical community and the entire immunisation apparatus in a state of disbelief and of relief that their efforts had finally managed to beat a resilient virus.



Hailing from Lakki Marwat, Zunaira had tested positive for the poliovirus in September.

According to Zubaida Bibi, Zunaira’s mother, she noticed the body temperature of the toddler rising suddenly. Perturbed, she took her sick child for a medical checkup to a nearby health facility. The health officials there administered an injection and sent her home with the assurance that the child will get better soon.

“I noticed that her limb had weakened and people told me it could be polio,” said Zubaida Bibi, Zunaira’s mother.  “It left me in a state of shock.” Soon enough, Zunaira was rushed the hospital again where doctors examined her and took samples for a test.

“They found that she [Zunaira] had contracted the viral infection and I was shocked, could not believe my niece was infected with polio,” said Fahimullah, Zunaira’s uncle.



He told The Express Tribune that Zunaira and the remaining three nieces and nephews have routinely received polio vaccines.

Earlier in April, Zunaira had received seven doses of vaccine as well as the inactivated polio vaccine.

However, Fahimullah doubted officials since everyone in the area had vaccinated their children against the virus and there was little possibility of the virus circulating in the area.

The first poliovirus case across K-P for over a year had been traced back to Multan by the National Institute of Health (NIH). Fahimullah then conceded that shortly before the virus was detected there had been a funeral in the area where people from as far as Karachi, Rawalpindi and other parts of Punjab had visited.

“We are locals from the Bangash Khel tribe and our ancestors and forefathers have been settled in the area for centuries and we have never travelled far from our area for ages,” he added.



However, the girl proved to be resilient with doctors suspecting she may have even developed an immunity to the virus even though her samples showed infection.

“She would not have been able to walk properly, she would not only have been crippled but dependent [on others] for life,” cried Zubaida, a mother four boys and two girls.

Zubaida, whose husband is a member of the Frontier Corps posted along Pakistan-Afghan in Balochistan, credited polio vaccinators who, despite having been targeted so many time, managed to vaccinate her little girl and boosted her immunity enough to stave off the crippling virus.

This year, a total of five polio cases have been confirmed across the country with one each from Sindh, Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and even Gilgit-Baltistan.

Authorities dealing with polio eradication campaigns have also increased the sites for collecting environmental surveillance and currently, there are some 53 sampling sites across the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2017.