Another polio case emerges in K-P

Case detected in Shagai tehsil of South Waziristan district

PESHAWAR:

Another child of the province has contracted the crippling poliovirus case, taking the provincial total of polio cases for the year to 21.

The latest case was reported from the Shagai tehsil of South Waziristan district, in a 42-month-old child, the Peshawar Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) said on Tuesday.

EOC officials said that they had sent stool samples from victim to the National Institute of Health (NIH) for testing which confirmed the presence of the virus in the child’s body.

With this new case, the total polio cases reported in the country so far this year have risen to 56. EOC data shows that so far, Sindh has reported 18 confirmed polio cases, followed by Balochistan with 14 cases, and Punjab with three cases.

Last week, a polio type-II case was reported in the Upper Dir district.

EOC officials said that K-P remains most-affected by the crippling disease as compared to other provinces. During the first six months of the current year, most cases of both polio type-1 and two were reported from the province. They noted that only 22 polio type-II cases were reported from across the country during the previous year.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2020.