Crippling virus: Number of polio cases reaches 18

SUKKUR/ PESHAWAR:

Two fresh polio cases emerged in the country on Tuesday, taking the year’s total to 18 with seven cases from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), six from the tribal areas, three from Sindh and two from Balochistan.

Poliovirus was detected in an 18-month-old boy who had been properly vaccinated against the disease. The case surfaced on Tuesday despite a well-rounded anti-polio campaign in Sukkur district. The affected child, Uzair Chohan, is a resident of Bachal Shah Miani. While confirming the case, Sukkur district health officer Dr Irfanullah Qureshi told The Express Tribune that the samples of the boy were sent to Islamabad for a laboratory examination.

Test results show that the child has contracted the poliovirus, he said. “It is quite alarming since the boy has been administered 19 doses of anti-polio vaccines, besides completing all routine immunisation,” he said. “A team of World Health Organisation (WHO) is coming to Sukkur to investigate the matter.”

The second case was reported and confirmed from Shalobar area of Bara in Khyber Agency, where health officials listed Resham, daughter of Hameed Gul, as among those affected by polio. “Based on a parental report, the child had received three doses of OPV as routine, and one dose as supplementary immunisation since her birth,” the official informed.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2015.