Polio case reported from Bannu

BANNU: A case of polio has been reported from Mirakhel Union Council in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

It was learnt that twenty-month old Rehan, son Yousaf Khan, had fallen ill on January 15 and his right side had started weakening. His parents had taken him to a doctor, who reported him as an AFP case. His stool sample was taken and sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad for investigation.

The test result was positive and he was diagnosed with polio. The in-charge of the polio vaccination in Bannu said that Rehan had been vaccinated against polio regularly. However, his parents refused to allow him vaccination in the January anti-polio drive as he had fallen ill.

Rehan was vaccinated after the polio vaccinators and members of the support staff convinced his parents. The deputy commissioner, who is head of the district polio eradication committee, ordered an inquiry into the new case of polio at a meeting of the district monitors working under the Polio Eradication Initiative.

It merits a mention here that 11-month old Javed, son of Rahmanullah, was recently diagnosed with polio in the Bajaur tribal district. The affected child belonged to Inayat Killay in Khar tehsil in Bajaur.

The surge in the number of polio cases has set the alarm bells ringing as Pakistan is on the verge of eradicating the crippling disease that has paralysed hundreds of children in the country.

Though concerted efforts are being made to interrupt the transmission of the poliovirus, it is still circulating in the environment, pointing to the gaps in the programme.