10 polio cases reported in a single day
Four of the infected children hail from one tehsil in Khyber Agency — Bara.
PESHAWAR:
The country’s polio count hit an alarming 137 on Friday after 10 more cases were confirmed from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) in a single day by the National Institute of Health Islamabad.
The development comes at a time when official documents claim the option to inoculate children still living in war-torn North Waziristan is on the cards and a UAE government and Pakistan Army drive is said to have covered large swathes of the displaced population.
Of the new cases, eight are from Fata, taking the area’s count to 101— a jump into triple digits overnight. Two of the cases were reported from Bannu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Four of the infected children hail from one tehsil in Khyber Agency — Bara. Eight-month-old Awais, 18-month-old Sabir, 18-month-old Hafsa and 12-month-old Muhammadullah are all from Aka Khel in Bara. According to official reports, none of the children had received a single dose of the oral polio vaccine (OPV).
Two-year-old Sadia from Razmak in North Waziristan has also been diagnosed with the crippling virus as was six-month-old Safia from Miranshah. Both had not been inoculated against the poliovirus.
South Waziristan which only reported two cases in 2013 now has 12. Saeeda, 3, and 18-month-old Fawad are from Wana and Ladha tehsils respectively.
While Saeeda has not received a single dose of the vaccine, Fawad had received one dose through a supplementary immunisation activity.
In Bannu, 12-month-old Muntazar and 36-month-old Asma were both diagnosed with poliovirus and neither had received a single dose of the OPV. Of the 137 cases, 101 are in Fata, 23 in K-P, 11 in Sindh, one in Punjab and Balochistan each.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2014.
The country’s polio count hit an alarming 137 on Friday after 10 more cases were confirmed from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) in a single day by the National Institute of Health Islamabad.
The development comes at a time when official documents claim the option to inoculate children still living in war-torn North Waziristan is on the cards and a UAE government and Pakistan Army drive is said to have covered large swathes of the displaced population.
Of the new cases, eight are from Fata, taking the area’s count to 101— a jump into triple digits overnight. Two of the cases were reported from Bannu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Four of the infected children hail from one tehsil in Khyber Agency — Bara. Eight-month-old Awais, 18-month-old Sabir, 18-month-old Hafsa and 12-month-old Muhammadullah are all from Aka Khel in Bara. According to official reports, none of the children had received a single dose of the oral polio vaccine (OPV).
Two-year-old Sadia from Razmak in North Waziristan has also been diagnosed with the crippling virus as was six-month-old Safia from Miranshah. Both had not been inoculated against the poliovirus.
South Waziristan which only reported two cases in 2013 now has 12. Saeeda, 3, and 18-month-old Fawad are from Wana and Ladha tehsils respectively.
While Saeeda has not received a single dose of the vaccine, Fawad had received one dose through a supplementary immunisation activity.
In Bannu, 12-month-old Muntazar and 36-month-old Asma were both diagnosed with poliovirus and neither had received a single dose of the OPV. Of the 137 cases, 101 are in Fata, 23 in K-P, 11 in Sindh, one in Punjab and Balochistan each.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2014.