Another polio case surfaces in Karachi

F.P. Report

KARACHI: A polio virus case has been detected in Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of Karachi, bringing the total number of children affected by the crippling disease to three in Sindh province in 2019, health department sources told media on Thursday.      

Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio in Sindh also confirmed that third polio case was reported from Gulsha-e-Iqbal town of Karachi. So far, a total of three children have been affected by the polio virus in Sindh province out of which two were reported from Karachi and one from Larkana.  

A six-month boy, Abdul Nasir, who was a constant refusal about polio vaccination, has fallen victim to the polio virus in Gulshan-e-Iqbal’s UC 12 in Karachi. The families’ refusal from administering anti-polio vaccines not only put their children in danger of getting polio, but also to others, a heath official told PPI. EOC Coordinator said refusals against vaccination had led to another polio case in Pakistan. He said: “Fake propaganda against vaccination leads to misconceptions, so parents must not fall prey to it.”

According to child’s father, grandmother and uncle, child developed low grade fever on 28 April 2019 and went for consultation to MAMJI Hospital Gulberg. Fever was followed by weakness of both lower limbs on 29 April. Sindh has three polio cases in 2019, one from Larkana and two from Karachi. The country-wide polio cases count is now 17 this year. EOC Coordinator further said: “This is why we have repeatedly been raising awareness that please vaccinate your children with two drops of the polio vaccine every time when they are offered and please do not refuse it as it could put their children’s future in danger.

He appealed to the media to spread awareness about repeated vaccination for the future of children and help them quash misconceptions. He urged all stakeholders of the society to work hard to eradicate polio virus from Pakistan. 

Out of total 17 polio cases in Pakistan in 2019, three were reported in Sindh, three in Punjab, six in Khyber Pakhunkhwa and five in KPTD out of them one in Khyber Agency, one in Bajour Agency and three in North Waziristan.