Pakistan's polio tally surges to 24 after two new cases in Sindh, KP

Despite a countrywide campaign to eradicate the poliovirus, the disease attacked two more children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, bringing the tally to 24 this year.

The Nation Institute of Health's (NIH) Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication in KP confirmed that a 10-month-old baby girl was paralysed after being diagnosed with poliovirus.

Meanwhile, Sindh’s health department said Hyderabad has also reported the second case of poliovirus in a 30-month-old boy.

Of the 24 in Pakistan, 15 cases were reported in Balochistan, 5 in Sindh, 2 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 1 each in Punjab and Islamabad.

An official, on a condition of anonymity, said that the immunity gap in the country would cause an increase in cases in the next couple of months.

“Media should also explain how low immunity and epidemiology cycle lead to a vaccine-preventable disease like polio,” he said.

Recalling efforts made in 2020, the official said that due to the extraordinary hard work in 2020-2021, the country received 15 months with no poliovirus cases.

New challenges and programme lapses in KP in 2021-2022 led to an outbreak in south KP with 20, he noted.

As per official data, as many as 336 environmental samples across the country resulted positive for the presence of poliovirus.

The Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, Ayesha Raza Farooq, reiterated in a statement the importance of repeated polio vaccination to protect children from the virus. 

“Many children are suffering the consequences of missed vaccination opportunities; the only means to protect them is to ensure that all children under age five are vaccinated,” she said.