14th polio case reported in Peshawar

Total number of cases from K-P climbs to 14

PESHAWAR: A fresh case of polio has surfaced from Sheikhan area of the city on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to 14. An official of National Institute of Health told The Express Tribune that one-year-old Kainat was diagnosed with polio. “The sample was obtained last month but now we have confirmed Kainat’s paralysis was caused by poliovirus,” the official said, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media. Last week, three cases were reported from various parts of the country. So far, 10 polio cases have been reported from the tribal areas, six from Balochistan and five from Sindh. Recently, a three-day polio drive was held across the country. At least 5.3 million children were administered vaccines during the campaign. The relevant authorities plan to visit over 2.5 million households to administer vaccine and around 425 lady health workers will take part in the campaign.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2015.