Pakistan reports a fresh case of Polio, taking country’s toll to 15 in 2022

Pakistan reports a fresh case of Polio!

The new case is reported from Tehsil Ghulam Khan of North Waziristan, despite health workers’ relentless efforts to vaccinate children despite the flood-related obstacles and destruction.

This is the 14th case from district North Waziristan this year, the health official said.

The newly reported case took the country’s toll of poliovirus cases to 15 this year, health authorities said.

All of the cases in Pakistan in 2022 have been reported from southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including 14 from North Waziristan and one from Lakki Marwat.

“A 17-month boy in North Waziristan has been paralyzed by wild polio in the 14th case from the district this year. The child suffering from polio-induced disabilities had onset of paralysis on August 1,” an official of the National Health Services, Regulation, and Coordination (NHS, R&C) said while quoting Pakistan’s Polio Laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH) on Friday.

“Despite the extreme climatic conditions, the Pakistan Polio Programme has continued the immunization campaigns wherever possible. The ongoing national immunization days started on August 22 and the polio workers continue to reach the children in all the accessible areas, braving heavy rainfalls and floods,” the official said.