Polio epidemic: Three more cases confirmed

AoA,

Mera Pakistan

KARACHI / QUETTA: Three new polio cases were reported across Pakistan on Saturday, taking this year’s tally to 16. The latest cases were confirmed in Dadu in Sindh, Loralai in Balochistan and Peshawar in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Health authorities in Sindh confirmed that two-year-old Saddam Ranu, resident of Dadu’s Makhdoom Bilawal union council, had contracted the crippling disease on February 10. Stool samples of the boy had been sent to the National Institute of Health in Islamabad, which tested positive on Saturday.

The focal person of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation said the child had not been vaccinated during routine immunisation campaigns. But the boy’s family claimed to have immunised the child around two months back, he added.

The child might have had weaker immunity because of malnutrition, a major factor affecting most of the children in rural Sindh, the official said. He added that it was the second polio case from Sindh in 2015.

The second case was reported from the Nasirabad union council of Duki tehsil in Loralai district of Balochistan.

Officials at the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) said poliovirus was confirmed in a year-old boy, identified as Naimatullah, son of Daulat Khan Dutani. The child had never been vaccinated during anti-polio campaigns and contracted the virus on February 9. According to sources, some families in the village of Chalandar Cheena had been missed during the past several vaccination campaigns.

Health officials said it was the second confirmed polio case of the year in the province.  The third case was reported from Peshawar. The child contracted the disease on February 8.

Patricia