BADIN: A fresh polio case was reported from Sindh on Wednesday, bringing number of the cases reported in Pakistan this year to 19, officials said.
With the emergence of the fresh case, total number of the polio victims detected this year in Sindh reached eight equaling to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa number. Last year, 12 polio cases were reported from Sindh against the total of 54 cases. With the emergence of the fresh case, the number of the cases of Badin and neighbouring district Sujawal has reached to three in two-month time.
Last month, two baby girls from Badin and Sujawal districts were detected to have been suffering from the crippling disease of poliovirus. According to spokesman of the Emergency Operation Centre (ECO) for polio eradication in Sindh, Imran, six-year-old son of Javed from Badin, has been tested positive for polio.
He said that the investigation on the case was ongoing. “We have done three campaigns in the Sajawal and Badin belt in the last two months and are ready for another anti-polio campaign there starting from December 19 as response to the virus surfacing in the Badin and Sajawal belt, this should close virus circulation down,” the EOC official said.
Imran is the cousin of one-year-old Alam Khatoon, who was diagnosed with polio virus a month ago. The EOC official added that when polio eradication was near, the virus would fight for its survival and travel to areas where it is least expected, this is the case with Badin. It also attacks the children with lowest immunity and nutritional status, he said.
In recent past, provincial capital Karachi and northern districts of Sindh were the highest risk areas for polio but during the last two months, three cases have been reported from southern districts of Badin and Sujawal. EOC Sindh Coordinator Fayaz Jatoi stressed on the need to the secure the Badin belt immediately.
He said that Sindh has made major progress in stopping polio transmission. In the past year, the programme has seen dramatic reductions in the numbers of cases and virus circulation, he stated.
