Poliovirus tally climbs to 24 in Pakistan after latest case in Hyderabad

KARACHI: Authorities on Saturday confirmed that a fresh case was reported in Sindh's Hyderabad, taking the total number of polio cases in Pakistan to 24 this year. 

While the latest case from Hyderabad marked the city's second polio case, it also became the fifth polio case recorded in the Sindh province this year, sources at the National Emergency Operations Centre confirmed.

The latest case was diagnosed in a two-and-a-half-year-old child from Hyderabad's Neronkot area, who was left paralysed by the virus. 

A day earlier, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had reported its second after a 10-month-old baby girl in the province's district Kohat was diagnosed with the virus, which left the child paralysed.

The infant from Kohat's Tehsil Darra Adamkhel had contracted the wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) on September 12.

Before that, authorities had confirmed that a 30-month-old boy from Pishin, Balochistan, was struck by the poliovirus marking the province's 15th case this year.

All these cases were reported within this week marking almost a daily growth in the number of polio cases, leading to increased scrutiny of the country's polio eradication efforts.

So far, Balochistan remains the epicentre of the outbreak with 15 confirmed cases, while Sindh has now reported five. Additionally, Punjab and Islamabad have each recorded one case, while KP has reported two.

Taking notice of the latest polio case reported in Hyderabad, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah sought a report from the provincial health department. He urged the nation to "unite and eradicate polio".

"The world is looking for new ways of development and we can't get rid of polio," said the CM before advising the health department to initiate a special polio campaign.

The chief minister advised parents to "voluntarily administer the polio vaccine to their children".

Earlier this week, Muhammad Anwarul Haq, the national coordinator for the Polio Emergency Operations Centre, emphasised the urgency of addressing gaps in efforts to fight this disease.

"Every missed vaccination is an opportunity for the virus to win," he warned.

Calling for collective action from both the government and the public, Haq highlighted that the solution lies in ensuring timely and repeated vaccinations for all children.

Meanwhile, Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister's focal person for polio eradication, also voiced frustration at the lack of progress and immunisation coverage as a result of parental refusals, often due to misinformation or mistrust.

Pakistan’s polio eradication programme organised an anti-polio campaign in 115 districts of the country this month in which 33 million children under the age of five years were given polio vaccinations.

However, the programme continues to face significant challenges, particularly in areas where insecurity, misinformation, and parental refusals hinder vaccination campaigns.

Despite these obstacles, authorities have updated the National Polio Eradication Emergency Operations Plan and have planned two major door-to-door vaccination campaigns later this year in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus.