Fresh polio virus case detected in Peshawar

Tally stands at six in the province and 22 in the whole country

PESHAWAR/ MARDAN: Health officials on Tuesday confirmed that a toddler has contracted the polio virus even after being inoculated twice against the crippling disease.

The latest case has pushed the tally to six in the province and 22 in the whole country.

Health officials said poliovirus was reported in samples obtained from 8-month-old Hazrat Gul who had already been given two doses of anti-polio vaccines.



The total number of cases in the country has also raised to 22 with nine cases from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, six from Federally Administered Tribal Areas, four from Sindh and three cases were confirmed from Baluchistan.

The provincial government has been putting all its efforts to root out poliovirus from the province and has recently adopted a fresh strategy where parents are being arrested for refusing to administer anti-polio drops to their children.

According to the health department statistics, around 30,916 children were left unvaccinated against poliovirus whereas more than 1.37 million children were inoculated in 19 districts across the province during a recent three-day anti-polio drive and a catch-up campaign that concluded last week.

According to details, parents of 6,971 children had refused polio drops for their children whereas 23,954 children were not available when the teams visited their houses for inoculation.

Warrants issued

Mardan Deputy Commissioner Shahidullah Khan issued arrest warrants for more than 1,000 parents in Mardan under 3 Maintenance of Public Order who refused immunisation of their children against poliovirus.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2015.