Five more victims take number of countrywide polio cases to 129

Five new cases of polio were reported from various parts of the country two each from Sindh and Balochistan and one from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday. With these five additional cases, the number of polio cases in Pakistan has reached 129. The cases of the crippling disease were reported from Qamber Shahdadkot and Mirpur Khas in Sindh, Jaffarabad and Qilla Abdullah in Balochistan and Lakki Marwat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The cases in Sindh were reported in Mirpurkhas and Qamber Shahdadkot districts. The Emergency Operations Centre however clarified that these cases are from December 2019. The polio victim in Mirpurkhas was a two-year old girl from Sindhri. Her parents said she had received seven doses of the polio vaccine during campaigns but routine immunisation was not done. Another polio case in Sindh was a two year old girl from Warah town in Qamber Shahdadkot district.
In Balochistan the first case involved a 16-month old boy and the second case was a five year old boy who had received seven doses during polio campaigns but routine immunisation was not carried out.
The case in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was reported in district Lakki Marwat which has recorded 30 cases so far, being the highest number in a single district in 2019. The victim was an 18 month old boy whose parents recalled the child had received seven doses during campaigns and two during the routine immunisation campaigns.
The anti polio campaign officials said that the door to door routine and specific polio immunizations campaigns will continue throughout this year. It asked all the parents to approach nearby health centre for polio vaccination in case the sanctioned team does not turn up at their house, the officials added.