Another polio case surfaces in Karachi

KARACHI: Another poliovirus case recently surfaced from the Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of Karachi, bringing the total number of children affected by the crippling disease to three in the Sindh province in 2019.

The Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio in Sindh confirmed that the third polio case reported from the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town of Karachi. So far, a total of three children have been affected by the poliovirus in Sindh out of which two reported from Karachi and one from Larkana.

The Coordinator, Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio in Sindh said that refusals and misinformation against vaccination have led to the occurrence of another polio case in Pakistan. He stated that the false propaganda against vaccination leads to misconceptions which parents must not fall prey to.

A six-month-old male child, Abdul Nasir, son of Abdul Qahhar, has fallen victim to the poliovirus in Gulshan-e-Iqbal UC 12 in Karachi after his family refused to get him vaccinated. This refusal by families does not only put their children in danger of getting polio but also puts the children of others at risk.

According to the child's father, grandmother and uncle, the child developed a low-grade fever for which the patient was taken for a consultation to MAMJI Hospital Gulberg. The fever was followed by weakness in both lower limbs. Sindh has reported three polio cases in 2019 alone, one from Larkana and two from Karachi. Pakistan’s total polio case count is now 17.

The Coordinator, EOC for Polio in Sindh, said that this is why we have repeatedly been raising awareness about vaccinating children with two drops of the polio vaccine every time they are offered. He requested the public not to refuse vaccinations and put the future of their children in danger.

He appealed to the media to spread awareness around repeated vaccinations being necessary for the future of our children and requested their support in squashing misconceptions. He urged all the stakeholders of the society to work in close coordination to eradicate the polio virus from Pakistan.

Out of the total 17 polio cases in Pakistan in 2019, three were reported from Sindh, three from Punjab, six in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and five in KPTD out of which one belongs to the Khyber Agency, one in the Bajour Agency and three in North Waziristan, as confirmed by sources from the health department.