Pakistan

Pakistan's polio tally hits 50 with new K-P case

Tank district, a polio-endemic area, remains a high-risk zone as the virus continues to circulate.

News Desk November 19, 2024

A health worker administers polio drops to a child during a door-to-door vaccination campaign on the outskirts of Peshawar. Militant attacks and misinformation are hampering the battle to eradicate polio, but teams of dedicated volunteers remain steadfast. PHOTO: AFP

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The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad has confirmed the detection of another wild poliovirus (WPV1) case from Pakistan.

On November 2024, the lab confirmed the case from a girl-child, from Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bringing the number of polio cases this year to 50.

Genetic sequencing of the virus isolated from collected samples indicates it is genetically linked to WPV1 detected in the same district in July.

This is the second polio case from Tank and the 50th polio case from Pakistan this year. So far, 24 cases have been reported from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 11 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

Photo: Pakistan Polio Eradication

Tank is one of the polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and has reported multiple positive environmental samples this year, as well as two cases, indicating that poliovirus circulation remains a threat to children.

The Polio Programme brings the vaccine to citizens’ doorsteps several times a year. Given the spread of the virus, it is critical for parents to ensure that their children are vaccinated in all polio drives and up to date on their routine vaccinations.

Previously Pakistan confirmed its 49th case of wild poliovirus (WPV1) for 2024, with the latest case reported from Jaffarabad district in Balochistan.

The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad confirmed the detection on Thursday, November 14.

WHO survey evaluates anti-polio drive

The World Health Organisation's (WHO) Lot Quality Assessment Survey (LQS) has declared the outcomes of Rawalpindi's recently conducted anti-polio drive as satisfactory.

The campaign aimed to vaccinate over 1.057 million children in the district.

As part of the standard LQS protocol, WHO teams inspected 60 randomly selected houses to evaluate the campaign's success.

The campaign passes the LQS if no more than three unvaccinated children are found per cluster.

Encouragingly, environmental surveillance revealed a decline in the presence of the poliovirus.

While earlier samples had detected the virus in 12 areas across Rawalpindi city and cantonment, recent results confirmed its absence in three out of five environmental samples.