Another polio case reported in Balochistan

QUETTA:

A 16-month-old child was tested positive for polio virus in Balochistan on Saturday raising the tally of the crippling disease to 25 cases across the province in 2020.

According to a provincial health department source, the presence of the virus in the child had been confirmed who belonged to Gulistan Tehsil of Qilla Abdullah and was not vaccinated against polio.

Health officials appealed to parents to keep children vaccinated against polio to prevent them from becoming permanently disabled, as it was the only way to eradicate the crippling disease from the country.

“The polio vaccine has no side effects,” said a health official, adding it only strengthened a child's immune system.

After the new case in the province, the tally of positive cases has reached 83 across the country while Balochistan has reported the highest number of cases amongst all provinces.

The number of positive polio cases in Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa stand 22 while 14 children have been contracted the crippling diseases in Punjab.

In 2019, Balochistan reported 12 cases of the virus. The crippling disease has been eradicated across the world except for Pakistan and Afghanistan where the coronavirus cases are still emerging.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20th, 2020.