Five new cases of polio reported across country

KARACHI: Five new cases of polio have been reported from various parts of the the country, two each from Sindh and Balochistan and one from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ARY News reported on Saturday.

The cases of the crippling disease were reported in Qamber-Shahdadkot, Mirpur Khas in Sindh, Jaffarabad and Qilla Abdullah in Balochistan and Lakki Marwat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The cases in Sindh were reported in Mirpurkhas and Qamber-Shahdadkot districts. The Emergency Operations Centre, however, clarified that these cases are from December last year and not in 2020.

The number of polio cases in Pakistan has reached to 129 with this fresh reported cases.

The polio victim in Mirpurkhas, was a two-year-old girl from Sindhri. Her parents said, she had received seven doses of the polio vaccine during campaigns but no routine immunisation was done.

Another polio case in Sindh was a two-year-old girl from Warah town, in Qamber-Shahdadkot district.

In Balochistan, the first case was a 16-month-old boy and the second case was a five-year-old boy who had received seven doses during polio campaigns and no routine immunisation.

The case in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was reported in district Lakki Marwat, which has recorded 30 cases so far—the highest number in a single district in 2019. The victim was an 18-month-old boy whose parents recalled had received seven doses during campaigns and two during routine immunisation.

The anti-polio officials have said that the routine and specific polio immunizations campaigns will be continued this year.

A nearby health centre could also be contacted for the polio vaccination, officials added.