LAHORE: Three more polio cases have recently surfaced in Pakistan taking the national tally to 111. Two of them were reported in Balochistan and one in Sindh.
If cases of vaccine-derived polio are also included, the number has reached 123.
Balochistan’s new cases were a 16-month-old boy from Nasirabad’s Dera Murad Jamali area and a 14-month-old girl from Mastung. This brought the total number of cases in the province to nine. Information about the victims’ immunisation status was not available immediately.
Meanwhile, the Emergency Operation Centre for polio in Sindh confirmed the 17th polio case of the province Wednesday. The victim was a 72-month-old boy from UC Manik Laghari in Badin, Geo reported.
Officials said he tested positive for the polio virus after complaints of weakness in his right arm. According to parents, the child had received seven campaign and three routine doses. The EOC has urged parents to get their children under five years vaccinated.
Currently, a nationwide polio campaign is underway which will last till December 22. Some polio team members have even taken the drops themselves to convince refusing parents.
Rehan Baloch, the Sindh EOC coordinator, himself took the polio vaccine on Wednesday to convince community members in Karachi’s Mohammad Khan Colony, Ittehad Town and Baldia Town.
Read more: Anti-polio campaign begins from Karachi’s ‘high-risk’ Gadap
