Another child falls victim to polio

An eight-month-old girl from the Orangi Town area of Karachi has become the year’s third victim of polio in Karachi and sixth in Sindh, according to the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio Eradication in Sindh.

“An eight-month old girl has become the third polio victim in Karachi and sixth in Sindh in 2019. Other affected districts are Hyderabad with two cases of polio and Larkana with one case,” said a spokesman for the EOC.

The new polio victim was identified as Zakia Akhtar, a baby girl from Farid Colony of Orangi Town. Officials said polio eradication teams had faced difficulties in 2019 with the total case count now standing at 62 with 46 cases from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and KPTD, six from Sindh, and five from Balochistan and Punjab each.

However, the national and provincial governments are working hard to turn the situation around in the upcoming season. The EOC spokesman said the child had received polio vaccine under the routine immunisaton and it was being investigated whether she was administered the vaccine during anti-polio campaigns.

The child was low on immunity, which is why repeated vaccination is necessary, the spokesperson said. “Further investigation into the case is under way.”

The spokesperson called for the parents to understand that with the polio virus present in the environment, they must vaccinate every child under five years during every campaign to protect them against polio.