Three-year-old falls prey to polio virus in Balochistan

A three-year-old girl tested positive for polio virus in Balochistan's Pishin district on Friday, raising the province's tally to 17 for the current year.

According to health officials, the sudden increase in polio cases was on account of the polio campaign being suspended in Balochistan for five months due to the pandemic.

Samples of the child were collected on August 19 and 20.

On May 20, a four-year-old girl had also tested positive for polio virus in Osta Mohammad Tehsil of Jaffarabad.

The child had not been administered the polio vaccine and his family was also found wanting in this connection. Samples of the child were taken on April 20 and 21.

According to Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme's website, so far 67 cases of polio virus have been recorded in the country this year.

Speaking at a paediatric vaccine conference organised virtually by Sanofi Pakistan on August 23, Maria Carmen B Nievera, a medical expert at biopharmaceutical company Sanofi, warned that there was a likelihood of a rise in polio cases in Pakistan later this year due to the disruption in vaccination as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Besides, Professor Sajid Maqbool, a professor emeritus of the Institute of Child Health, said the data collected during the Expanded Programme for Immunisation reflected that bacterial meningitis claimed the lives of 23,000 to 25,000 children annually in Pakistan.

He also pointed to the high risk of disabilities and rapid progression to death among children less than a year old due to meningococcal disease.

Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by poliovirus mainly affecting children under the age of five. It invades the nervous system and causes paralysis or even death.

While there is no cure for polio, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from this crippling disease. Each time a child under the age of five is vaccinated, their protection against the virus is increased.