Two arrested for 'refusing' anti-polio drops in Karachi

KARACHI: Two people were arrested in Karachi for ‘refusal’ to anti-polio drops during a nationwide drive against the crippling disease, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

As per details, two individuals in Karachi were arrested for refusing to vaccinate their children against polio. The suspects, identified as Saad Ashraf and his employee Shan, were apprehended by Nazimabad police.

Both have been booked under charges of interfering in state’s matters.

The ongoing campaign marks the final polio vaccination drive of the year, aiming to immunize 45 million children across the country.

The rise in polio cases remains a significant concern, as Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two countries where the poliovirus continues to threaten public health.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), polio is a potentially fatal virus that can cause lifelong paralysis in affected individuals.

Authorities have intensified efforts to ensure compliance with vaccination programs to eradicate the disease.

Read more: Poliovirus: WHO extends travel restrictions on Pakistan

Symptoms and risk

Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours.

The poliovirus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (for example, contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness of the neck and pain in the limbs.

One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Among those paralysed, 5–10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.

The disease mainly affects children under 5 years of age. However, anyone of any age who is unvaccinated can contract the disease.

There is no cure for the crippling disease, it can only be prevented. Polio vaccine, given multiple times, can protect a child for life.

There are two vaccines available: oral polio vaccine and inactivated polio vaccine. Both are effective and safe, and both are used in different combinations worldwide, depending on local epidemiological and programmatic circumstances, to ensure the best possible protection to populations can be provided.