Poliovirus detected in samples from 3 districts of Sindh

Karachi: The National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s local reference laboratory for polio eradication has confirmed the presence of Wild Poliovirus Type 1 (WPV1) in environmental samples collected from three districts of Sindh.

According to a report, a laboratory official said that WPV1 was confirmed in sewage samples collected from Thatta, Umerkot, and Naushahro Feroze in Sindh.

He said that polio is an incurable disease that paralyzes. It is very important to increase the immunity of children under the age of five and protect them from this disease by administering multiple doses of polio vaccine and completing a course of routine immunization.

He further said: “The Pakistan Polio Program conducts a large-scale polio prevention campaign in a year. The vaccines are provided to children at their doorsteps, while free immunizations against 12 childhood diseases are also administered at Expanded Program for Immunization health centers”.

The first polio vaccination campaign of this year will be conducted across the country from February 3 to 9.

In this regard, the official appealed to parents, saying that ‘it is important for parents to vaccinate all their children under the age of five to protect them from polio’.