ISLAMABAD / KARACHI: Three more cases of polio have been reported in the country, two in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one in Sindh, bringing the total number of cases to 69.
An official from the Polio Virology Laboratory of the National Institute of Health (NIH) said Saturday that the cases of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were reported in Lakki Marwat and Bannu. Sindh's case was reported in Jamshoro.
He said that in the Lakki Marwat district, an 18-month-old girl had been paralyzed due to the virus. The girl lives in the village Zindhe Falak Sher, in Serai Naurang Tehsil.
During the investigations it was revealed that he had never been given polio drops, the official added.
The victim of Bannu, a two-year-old girl from the village of Wazir tehsil of Zalol Khel, had been vaccinated against paralyzing disease only once.
The emergency operations center (EOC) for polio in Sindh said the third case had been reported in the Kotri Taluka of Jamshoro district.
Authorities said that, unfortunately, a 31-month-old boy had become the seventh victim of the province in the year.
They said the boy was fine until August 27, when he suffered a fever and chest congestion. “The next day, a tanker hit the boy while playing in the street, after which he became irritable and found himself unable to move his legs. He was eventually referred to a private hospital where he was determined to have polio, ”said an EOC official.
An EOC spokesman said officials were investigating how many doses of polio drops had been administered, if they had been administered.
The NIH official said that although the boy's family had claimed that he had been given three doses of polio drops, this had not been mentioned on the vaccination card.
Meanwhile, to ensure that important policy makers and stakeholders are informed at all times of the total number of polio cases in the country, the government has decided to install LCD screens in key buildings, including the Presidency and national and provincial assemblies. .
The LCD screens installed in the directives of President Dr. Arif Alvi will show how many cases have been reported and from where. In addition, details of the environmental samples (which show the presence of the virus in wastewater) would also be shown.
According to a document signed by the Focal Person of the Prime Minister in Polio Babar bin Atta, and addressed to the president, it was decided that LCD screens showing polio updates would be installed in various places since World Polio Day that Will observe on October 24.
The LCDs would be installed in the lobby of the Presidency, the National Assembly of Pakistan, the six provincial / constitutional assemblies, the five secretariats of the main ministers and the Secretariat of the Prime Minister.
Atta said that during a meeting with the president it was proposed that LCD screens be placed in key locations so that parliamentarians and other decision makers remain aware of the issue.
“In addition, we have to take possession of the program to give a message to the masses that polio is our problem. On each LCD screen, the constituency's performance would be shown because public representatives would be aware that their performance is being observed, ”he said.
A sample of wastewater from an area is the basic parameter to determine if polio campaigns are being carried out successfully or not. A case of polio can be reported in any city due to the frequent movement of people from one city to another, but if the virus is found in sewage, it means that the polio campaign in that area could not achieve its objectives.
Posted on Dawn, September 29, 2019
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1507919/tally-rises-to-69-as-three-more-polio-cases-reported