Two more children crippled by polio in Sindh

KARACHI: Polio Eradication Initiative officials on Saturday said two more children in Sindh have been crippled by the Wild Polio Virus 1 (WPV1), taking the tally of polio cases in the province to five and Pakistan to 12.

“The Emergency Operation Centre for polio in Sindh confirms two new polio cases for the year 2020, one each from the District Badin and District Kambar taking the total tally of Sindh to 5 and Pakistan to 12 for 2020,”, an official of the EOC Sindh said on Saturday.

“Muskan Bilawal, a 36 months old female child has been affected by polio in district Badin with weakness in the upper left and lower left limb. The date of onset was January 01, 2020”, the EOC Sindh official said. On the other hand, 42-month old female child Shakeela Imdad Ali, from the village Saffar Khoso, UC Khabar Taluka Mirokhan, District Kambar was tested positive for polio after developing weakness in her right lower limb. The date of onset was January 01, 2020.

Officials at the National and Sindh’s Emergency Operation Centers said they have started to reverse this trend with renewed vaccination campaigns.

The first step was the successful polio vaccination drive in December 2019 followed by a case response in January this year. Another nationwide campaign would be started in February, officials said. They expressed the hope that quality campaigns over the next few months will bridge the immunity gap that will in IshaAllah lead to a significant decrease in the intensity of virus transmission in the second half of 2020. The National EOC and Sindh EOC asked the parents to ensure Immunization of their children both in the routine and the special campaigns during the next few months.

The National Coordinator of the EOC Dr. Rana Muhammad Safdar said “With 20,000 children born every single day, suboptimal routine Immunization coverage and pause in campaigns post-Peshawar drama created the current crisis. The fightback has indeed started from December 2019 (first successful NID after Jan 2019)”, and by April their hard work with the cooperation of all segments of the society would help in plugging current gaps and set the stage for our final push towards zero polio.

It is clear that the gap in campaigns last year has left a large immunity gap. It pains us to see the re-emergence of polio cases and it is our mission to reverse this trend and get back on track to save the future generations of Sindh and Pakistan, the officer said. In Karachi the next polio campaign will begin on the 10th of February and in the rest of Sindh districts the campaign will be conducted from the 17th of February onwards.