Polio cripples 3 more children: National count for 2019 reaches 140, with 6 cases so far in 2020

Islamabad : The National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed another three cases of polio here on Wednesday. While one of these cases dates back to 2019—one of the worst years in Pakistan’s polio eradication history—the other two are from 2020.

“The laboratory has isolated one wild poliovirus case from contact samples of an Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) case of 2019 of District Larkana. This brings the total polio count for 2019 to 140,” a polio official informed. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported maximum number of cases (92) last year, followed by Sindh (28), Balochistan (12) and Punjab (8).

Last year’s 140th victim is a 26 month-old boy from tehsil Ratodero in Sindh’s district Larkana. The child, who comes from a poor family, is recalled to have had three Routine Immunisation (RI) doses and seven plus doses during Supplementary Immunisation Activities (SIAs). He has suffered paralysis of the right arm and right leg.

With the addition of two new cases in 2020, Pakistan’s national count this year now stands at 6. The victims are an 11 month-old boy from district Tank in Khayber Pakhtunkhwa, and a 20 month-old boy from Tehsil Dera Murad Jamali in Balochistan’s district Nasirabad. Both the children come from poor socio-economic backgrounds.

While the polio victim in KP is a refusal case, meaning that he remained deprived of the vaccine that could have protected him from lifelong disability, the one from Balochistan reportedly had two RI doses and seven plus SIA doses. The boy is KP has suffered paralysis of both lower limbs while the boy in Balochistan has his left lower limb paralyzed. Of the three cases reported so far this year, 3 are from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 2 from Sindh, and 1 from Balochistan.

Talking to this scribe, the Coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication Dr. Rana Safdar said, “We have started a fight back against the virus with successful National Immunisation Days (NIDs) in December and a calculated response in January. We have scheduled NIDs in February and April, and another strategic response in higher-risk districts during March. The hard work and success from December till April will push the virus transmission intensity to the 2017-18 level by mid-2020. From thereon, we can restart our aggressive push towards zero polio.” He took pride in having conducted a successful nationwide campaign in December—the first after January 2019. A 10-month immunity gap created by continuously poor RI as well as halted campaigns indeed inflicted serious damage to the cause.

When asked what exactly will constitute the “aggressive push towards zero cases,” Dr. Rana identified strong routine immunisation through joint planning and implementation in key areas; high-quality door-to-door campaigns; deliverty of a package of basic health services; and addressing issues of malnutrition, water and sanitation in 40 Super High Risk Union Councils as the key interventions.