The breakdown of polio cases across the country is as follows: 24 cases in Balochistan, 13 in Sindh, 11 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each in Punjab and Islamabad (Catchline)
By our correspondent
PESHAWAR: the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad confirmed the detection of another case of wild poliovirus (WPV1) in Pakistan. The case involves a girl-child from the Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, marking it as the 50th polio case of the year. Genetic sequencing of the virus indicates that the poliovirus isolated from the recent sample is genetically linked to the one detected in the same district in July 2024.
This marks the second confirmed case from Tank, a district considered to be one of the polio-endemic areas of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The district has been a focal point for polio eradication efforts due to multiple positive environmental samples detected throughout the year. With the latest case, the district’s situation remains a significant concern, highlighting the continued circulation of the poliovirus, which poses a serious threat to children.
As of this reporting, the breakdown of polio cases across the country is as follows: 24 cases in Balochistan, 13 in Sindh, 11 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each in Punjab and Islamabad. The presence of poliovirus in Tank, along with the two confirmed cases this year, underscores the need for continued vigilance and aggressive vaccination campaigns. In response, the Polio Programme has continued to bring vaccines directly to citizens’ doorsteps as part of nationwide efforts to curb the virus.
It remains crucial for parents to ensure that their children are vaccinated during all polio drives and stay up to date with their routine vaccinations to prevent further spread. In a somewhat positive development, Rawalpindi’s recent anti-polio campaign, which aimed to vaccinate over 1.057 million children, was deemed successful by the World Health Organization (WHO) through its Lot Quality Assessment Survey (LQS). WHO teams inspected 60 randomly selected houses to assess the campaign’s effectiveness, and the results passed the standard LQS protocol, which allows for no more than three unvaccinated children per cluster.
Further encouraging news came from the environmental surveillance in Rawalpindi, which showed a decline in the presence of the poliovirus. Previous samples had revealed traces of the virus in 12 areas across the city and cantonment, but the latest results confirmed the virus’s absence in three out of five environmental samples, indicating progress in the fight against polio in the region.
