ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported on Saturday that a child in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province had been paralysed by poliovirus, bringing the total number of cases nationwide to 48 during the current year of 2024.
The South Asian nation, with a population of over 240 million, reported only a single case of paralytic poliovirus infections in 2021, following a period of more than 15 months without any documented cases. However, the numbers have since risen again.
Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, with at least 18 cases this year, according to WHO, are the only two countries where polio remains endemic.
The regional laboratory for polio eradication at the National Institute of Health Islamabad has confirmed the new case of Wild Poliovirus Type-1 (WPV1) in a male child from Dera Ismail Khan district.
The Pakistan polio programme, in a statement, said that genetic sequencing of the virus samples taken from the child is currently underway.
Data from the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme shows that so far this year, 23 cases have been reported in Balochistan, 13 in Sindh, 10 in KP, and one each in Punjab and the country’s capital, Islamabad.
In 2023, Pakistan had reported only six polio cases, 70 percent less than the total cases reported in 2022.
Yesterday, the country’s polio programme reported the presence of Wild Poliovirus Type-1 (WPV1) in two previously unaffected districts—Bajaur and Gujrat—bringing the total number of infected districts to 72.
In a statement, the polio programme emphasised the importance of the oral polio vaccine, saying, “The vaccine is essential to protect children from disability caused by polio infection.”
It urged parents across the country to ensure that all children under five receive multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and that their routine vaccinations are up to date.
