Poliovirus found in three-month-old in North Waziristan
After the detection of new case, total cases of poliovirus have rised to 18 in the country
September 13, 2022
- Pakistan reports 18 cases of poliovirus so far this year.
- Despite receiving three doses of OPV, the child got affected with the virus.
- Poliovirus was also detected in Karachi's sewage line.
Another case of poliovirus has been detected in the Tehsil Razmak of North Waziristan as a wild poliovirus-1 affected three-month-old boy despite the fact he received three doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV), The News reported.
After the detection of a new case in North Waziristan, the total cases of poliovirus have reached 18 in the country including 16 from South Waziristan and two from Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, during the current year.
According to an official in the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, “The three-month-old boy had received all three doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV) during the series of vaccination drives but due to weak immunity, he was paralysed for life.”
In August, as many as 11 positive environmental samples were detected across the country, including five each from Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and one from Sindh, said the officials, adding that so far, 22 positive environmental samples had been detected during the year.
The federal ministry’s officials said the environmental sample that detected positive in Karachi was collected on August 23 from the Bakhtawar Village in the Landhi area of Karachi. “This is the first positive environmental sample from Karachi in 2022. The previous positive sample from Karachi was reported in May 2021. The last wild poliovirus case from the district was reported in June 2020. The recent polio campaign in the district was conducted from August 15 till 21,” an official explained.
As many as 22 positive environmental samples were detected in 2022, including seven from Bannu, three each from Lahore and Peshawar, two each from Rawalpindi and Swat, and one each from Nowshera, Bahawalpur, Sialkot, Karachi and Islamabad. In a month-wise breakup, one positive environmental sample was detected in April, two in May, one in June, seven in July, and 11 in August 2022.
