Pakistan report two more polio cases, tally reaches 67

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported two more polio cases, bringing the total number of cases to 67 this year, ARY News reported quoting NEOC.

According to the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC), the wild poliovirus type 1 cases were reported in Kashmore Sindh and Tank Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

This year, four cases have been reported from Tank, and two from Kashmore.

Additionally, 19 cases have been reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 27 from Balochistan, 19 from Sindh, one from Punjab, and one from Islamabad.

On December 24, Pakistan reported it’s 65th polio case in the Kila district of Balochistan in 2024.

The National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) for Polio Eradication reported that a one-and-a-half-year-old infant Kila Abdullah district has been affected with polio.

POLIO: 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 virus 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.