Polio: K-P’s first case of the year reported in Bannu

One-year-old infant had not been vaccinated because his parents refused to do so.

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s first polio case of 2013 was confirmed in 13-month- old Muzakar from Bannu district.

The National Institute of Child Health (NICH) in Islamabad confirmed the type-1 polio virus in the boy, who is a resident of Gul Hassan village, union council Amandi. The NICH report said no traces of oral polio vaccine (OPV) were found in the child’s body.

“The area of the child’s residence is accessible to vaccination teams, but this child could not be immunised because his family refused to do so. There are also other refusal cases in the area,” the report said.

It maintains that since Bannu is adjacent to North and South Waziristan, which have not been accessible for vaccination teams since June last year, there is a major threat of the outbreak in the district.

“The family of the child has been refusing the vaccination since 2007 due to religious misconceptions and we have tried our best and used all available ways to convince them, but to no avail,” said an health department official in Bannu, requesting anonymity. Muzakar’s father Ismat Ali Khan is a rickshaw driver by profession.



The official added that the district administration among others went to the area several times to convince the family. He added that they will proceed with investigations once they receive an official notification about the case.

An official at the polio control room in Peshawar said most people who refuse to inoculate their children do so because they think it’s against their religion. Around 100 refusal cases have been reported from Muzaker’s village, he said.

The official said the last anti-polio drive in the area was carried out last month, but refused to comment whether a new campaign would be launched.

The first case of the year was reported in Karachi where 14-month old Muhammad Musharaf Khan from Cattle Colony of Bin Qasim Town was diagnosed with the crippling virus. The infant’s father also suffers from polio.

Pakistan has reported a total of 58 cases in the year 2012 with 27 in K-P, 20 in FATA, four in Balochistan, two in Punjab, four in Sindh and one in Gilgit-Baltistan.



Polio cases in Pakistan have risen sharply in recent years, hitting 198 in 2011, the highest figure for more than a decade and the most of any country in the world, according to the World Health Organisation.

A report published late last month said India may impose travel restrictions on Pakistan because of polio. It is feared that other countries may take similar measures if the virus is not eliminated. Pakistan remains one of the three countries where polio is still endemic.

Recently the virus was found in Cairo that was reported to have originated from Pakistan. Egypt has been polio-free since 2004.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2013.