Two more polio cases surface in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

PESHAWAR - The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) Islamabad notified two more polio cases in Bajaur tribal district of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), on Saturday.

According to the NEOC, the National Institute of Health (NIH) has isolated wild poliovirus from the stool sample of a 3-year month-old boy, Abdur Rehman and about 7 years -old girl Nabila, residents of village Jaba Manzai, UC Tali, Tehsil Salarzai of district Bajaur.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/new-polio-case-reported-from-kps-lakki-marwat-city/

The children got paralyzed because of the virus respectively on December 29, 2018, and December 31, 2018. Whereas the stool sample was collected to inspect the presence of poliovirus on Jan 8, 2019, and Jan 7, 2019, from Abdur Rehman and Nabila respectively.

Laboratory isolated wild poliovirus from stools and confirmed both to be the polio cases which were notified by NEOC today on January 19, 2019. Both the children received more than 7 doses of oral polio vaccine and zero doses of essential/routine vaccination.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/kp-sees-major-drop-in-polio-cases-during-2018-as-compared-to-last-year/

KP EOC Coordinator Capt (R) Kamran Ahmed Kamran Ahmed Afridi said that: “Every confirmed polio case from Bajaur is proof in itself that gap exists and there is a need for improving the quality of the campaign. Teams have already been notified who should identify gaps and propose the strategy to recover”.

He directed the provincial team to ensure access to and vaccination of each and every child, especially in Bajaur during the upcoming anti-polio campaign, adding that any negligence on the part of any officer will be dealt with strictly.

A three-day anti-polio campaign sets to begin in KP on Monday, January 21, through January 23. It will be followed by a catch-up of missed children and surveillance, under the supervision and security provided by deputy commissioners, district health officers and security forces.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/years-first-polio-drive-to-begin-on-monday-with-aim-to-eradicate-polio-in-2019/

Provincial Health Department spokesperson said that about 6.7 million children up to five years of age will be vaccinated during the campaign.

More than 31,000 teams have been formed to visit door-to-door to administer anti-polio drops to children. A total of 4,120 teams comprising 3,803 mobile teams, 227 fixed and 90 transit mobile teams will conduct the campaign and try to reach a total of 8,84,771 children below the age of 5 years.

More than 30,000 personnel of law enforcing agencies have been deputed for security of polio teams, the spokesman added.