Balochistan reports another polio case, Pakistan tally reaches 65

QUETTA: Pakistan on Tuesday reported another polio case, occurring in the Kila district of Balochistan, which raised the total number of cases to 65 in the country 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.

The information indicated that this is the seventh case reported from the Kila Abdullah area. In total, Balochistan province has recorded 27 polio cases thus far in the current year.

Earlier on December 18, Pakistan reported the 64th polio case of the current year. According to the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) for Polio Eradication, the reported from from Jacobabad, Sindh.

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.