Islamabad, June 28, 2024 – Two children have been paralyzed by wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in Balochistan and Sindh, bringing the number of cases in Pakistan this year to eight.
According to the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health, WPV1 was detected in stool samples collected from a two-year-old child in Killa Abdullah, who had onset of paralysis on May 22, and three-year-old from Karachi Keamari, who had onset of paralysis on June 3.
Virus isolated from samples taken from both children is genetically linked to the YB3A cluster, which has been detected in all positive cases and environmental samples reported this year.
Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Ayesha Raza Farooq said that there have been several detections of poliovirus this year and it is unfortunate that it remains a threat to Pakistani children.
“Until we eradicate this virus, no child anywhere is safe from this terrible disease,” she said, adding that the government is leading the charge against polio and is implementing a rigorous vaccination strategy to improve children’s immunity against the disease.
Coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Center Muhammad Anwarul Haq said that the Polio Programme will be launching a comprehensive case investigation to identify routes of virus transmission and find out populations that might have missed vaccination.
This is the third polio case from Killa Abdullah and first from Karachi this year. Six of this year’s eight cases have been reported from Balochistan.
Poliovirus particularly attacks children who are malnourished and have weak immunity because of being under-vaccinated or not vaccinated for polio and other childhood diseases.
The Polio Programme will be launching a vaccination drive from July 1 to July 7 to vaccinate more than 9.5 million children in 41 districts. The Programme urges parents and caregivers, religious leaders, teachers, community elders and all sections of society to play their role in countering this terrible disease and ensure that all children under five years of age around them are vaccinated multiple times against polio.
Note:
Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by poliovirus mainly affecting children under the age of five years. It invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis or even death. While there is no cure for polio, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from this crippling disease. Each time a child under the age of five is vaccinated, their protection against the virus is increased. Repeated immunisations have protected millions of children from polio, allowing almost all countries in the world to become polio-free, except for the two endemic countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
For further information, please contact: Ms Hania Naeem, Communications Officer, NEOC,
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