A crippling disease: Polio virus detected in Sukkur drainage station
Water samples were collected and sent to Islamabad to check if the virus was present.
Sukkur’s district health officer, Dr Mehmood Qureshi, confirmed that the virus had been detected at the pumping station but added that the district had been polio-free for the last couple of years. PHOTO: FILE
SUKKUR:
The health authorities in Sukkur are on high alert after they detected the polio virus in the city’s drainage system.
Last month nine water samples were collected as part of a routine check and sent to Islamabad to check if the virus was present. The samples were collected from different union councils, including New Pind, New Goth, Numaish Road and Mirani Mohallah. The sample that tested positive with traces of the virus was collected from the Maka drainage pumping station in Maka Goth. Water from the pumping station also flows into the Rice and North-West canals.
Sukkur’s district health officer, Dr Mehmood Qureshi, confirmed that the virus had been detected at the pumping station but added that the district had been polio-free for the last couple of years.
The last polio case that was reported in Sukkur was nearly four years ago in 2010 when a large number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) had temporarily moved to the district for shelter. Before 2010, the only other polio case reported in Sukkur was way back in 2006.
While talking to The Express Tribune, the health official said that in the 2006 case, the child was present in the city but was from another district. Discussing the 2010 case, he said that it was reported from an IDP camp in Sukkur when a large IDP population was living in Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kandhkot and Kashmore.
According to Dr Qureshi, they take samples from different drainage pumping stations in Sukkur every couple of months and send it to Islamabad to get tested. Last month’s samples were sent as per routine. He said that the samples taken from the Maka station tested positive for the polio virus while the others were negative. He added that the Maka station collects drainage water from crowded residential areas.
The DHO said that the only way to prevent the virus from spreading was to ensure that every child up to the age of five was vaccinated. He added that given the severity of the situation, they would carry out three polio vaccination drives in the next three weeks.
Dr Qureshi said that they had polio teams ready and available at the city’s entry and exit points, bus stops and railways stations and were going to intensify the campaign to fight the polio virus.
The water supply
Despite standing orders from the Sindh High Court’s Sukkur bench, which bans drainage water from being released into River Indus as it flows into canals without proper treatment. The drainage water is released into the river at six different points out of which four lead to main water works which also supply drinking water to citizens.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2014.
The health authorities in Sukkur are on high alert after they detected the polio virus in the city’s drainage system.
Last month nine water samples were collected as part of a routine check and sent to Islamabad to check if the virus was present. The samples were collected from different union councils, including New Pind, New Goth, Numaish Road and Mirani Mohallah. The sample that tested positive with traces of the virus was collected from the Maka drainage pumping station in Maka Goth. Water from the pumping station also flows into the Rice and North-West canals.
Sukkur’s district health officer, Dr Mehmood Qureshi, confirmed that the virus had been detected at the pumping station but added that the district had been polio-free for the last couple of years.
The last polio case that was reported in Sukkur was nearly four years ago in 2010 when a large number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) had temporarily moved to the district for shelter. Before 2010, the only other polio case reported in Sukkur was way back in 2006.
While talking to The Express Tribune, the health official said that in the 2006 case, the child was present in the city but was from another district. Discussing the 2010 case, he said that it was reported from an IDP camp in Sukkur when a large IDP population was living in Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kandhkot and Kashmore.
According to Dr Qureshi, they take samples from different drainage pumping stations in Sukkur every couple of months and send it to Islamabad to get tested. Last month’s samples were sent as per routine. He said that the samples taken from the Maka station tested positive for the polio virus while the others were negative. He added that the Maka station collects drainage water from crowded residential areas.
The DHO said that the only way to prevent the virus from spreading was to ensure that every child up to the age of five was vaccinated. He added that given the severity of the situation, they would carry out three polio vaccination drives in the next three weeks.
Dr Qureshi said that they had polio teams ready and available at the city’s entry and exit points, bus stops and railways stations and were going to intensify the campaign to fight the polio virus.
The water supply
Despite standing orders from the Sindh High Court’s Sukkur bench, which bans drainage water from being released into River Indus as it flows into canals without proper treatment. The drainage water is released into the river at six different points out of which four lead to main water works which also supply drinking water to citizens.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2014.