KP reports first polio case in 2018

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported the first polio case of 2018 and it brought to four the total number of polio cases in the country.

According to officials, Arsalan Khan, son of Iqbal Khan, 19-month-old, was diagnosed with poliovirus (P-1). He belongs to Miangan Tehbana village of Sarki Tetara union council in Charsadda.

The disease could not cripple the child as he had reportedly received the oral polio vaccine in the supplementary immunisation activities and had underdone Essential Immunisation. The officials said that thorough field investigations were being jointly conducted by the national and provincial authorities and surveillance teams.

The implementation of Peshawar Action Plan developed jointly by the National Emergency Operation Centre mission, provincial Emergency Operation Centre has also been rolled out to tackle the risks associated with the ongoing transmission in northern corridor, said an official of the Polio Eradication Programme on condition of anonymity. Three polio cases have already been reported from Balochistan.