Polio virus detected in environmental samples of 10 districts

Islamabad: The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) confirmed the wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in environmental samples taken from 10 previously affected districts.

According to a report, laboratory officials said that WPV1 was detected in sewage samples taken from Gwadar, Sibi, Khuzdar, Dukki, Hub, Lasbela, Noshki, Bannu, DI Khan, and Lahore.

They stated that when poliovirus is found in a sewage sample of a district, it is said that the environmental sample has been found positive and the district is declared affected and when a child is infected, he is declared a positive polio case.

The officials added that 64 cases of polio have been reported in the country this year, while the resurgence of poliovirus is posing a serious threat to children across the country from a disease that can paralyze them for life.

It is pertinent to note that a new case of polio was reported in Pakistan on December 19, after which the number of people infected with polio across the country this year has reached 64.

An official of the Regional Reference Laboratory established for polio eradication at the NIH said that a new case was reported from Jacobabad yesterday.

Earlier, on December 13, the poliovirus was confirmed in one child each from Jacobabad and Sukkur districts of Sindh. This was the first case reported from Sukkur this year. However, four children have been infected with the disease in Jacobabad so far.

According to the NIH, the highest number of cases reported this year, 26, are from Balochistan, while 18 cases were reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 17 from Sindh, and one case each from Punjab and Islamabad.

Regional Reference Laboratory officials advised parents to ensure that children under the age of five are vaccinated to protect them from the virus.

He said that currently, a large-scale campaign to vaccinate more than 44 million children against polio is underway in 143 districts of the country. To keep children safe, parents must bring their children forward for vaccination.

It should be noted that a few days ago, a statement issued by the Ministry of Health said that 60 percent of the polio cases reported this year did not receive any routine immunization vaccine, due to which the severity of the disease was seen in children.