Polio remains a debilitating disease with no cure. Vaccination efforts are crucial, with the oral polio vaccine being a vital tool to protect children under five from this life-threatening illness.
The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at Pakistan’s National Institute of Health have confirmed the detection of the Wild Poliovirus Type 1 in sewage samples from 18 districts across the country.
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According to ARY News, the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio confirmed the presence of the virus in environmental samples collected from February 21 to March 6. These samples came from various sewage lines across all four provinces of Pakistan.
The areas affected include 12 districts in Sindh, two districts each in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one district in Balochistan, and Islamabad. Specifically, polio traces were found in sewage from districts such as Islamabad, Chaman in Balochistan, South Waziristan, and Dir in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as Lahore and Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab. In Sindh, districts such as Badin, Dadu, Hyderabad, Jacobabad, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sujawal, Qambar, Sukkur, and Karachi East, West, Central, and Kemari were found to have the virus, ARY News reported.
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While most districts tested positive, four areas showed no signs of the virus. This year, Pakistan has already reported six confirmed polio cases, with four cases from Sindh and one each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. In 2024, the country recorded 74 cases, primarily in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh, ARY News reported.
Polio remains a debilitating disease with no cure. Vaccination efforts are crucial, with the oral polio vaccine being a vital tool to protect children under five from this life-threatening illness. Ensuring that all children complete the vaccination schedule is essential for high immunity and the fight against polio in Pakistan, ARY News cited.
It is crucial to administer multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and ensure that all children under five complete the regular vaccination schedule to provide them with strong immunity against this debilitating disease.
Previously, Pakistan’s Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health confirmed the presence of poliovirus in sewage systems across 12 districts in three provinces.
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Meanwhile, the country has also confirmed the second case of mpox this year when a 29-year-old man tested positive for the contagious viral infection in Karachi. The patient, a resident of Shah Latif town in Malir district, is currently under treatment at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), reported Dawn.
The patient arrived at the hospital two days ago with skin lesions, JPMC deputy director Dr Yahya Tunio said, adding that the patient is “stable” and being looked after in the isolation ward.
According to Tunio, the patient’s wife, who recently travelled to Saudi Arabia, had similar lesions. “He told us that her lesions later healed,” the official said, adding the patient is also hepatitis C positive. Sources said officials had started contact tracing following confirmation of the case while screening efforts had been intensified at airports and border entry points. Authorities have urged the public to remain vigilant. This is the first case of mpox in Sindh, as per Dawn.
According to officials, this year’s first case was reported in January when a passenger arriving from a Gulf country in Peshawar tested positive for the infection. Last year, eight mpox cases were reported, while the government confirmed nine cases in 2023, all among travellers returning from the Middle East and other countries.
There have been no cases of local transmission of the virus so far. The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared mpox an emergency of international concern on August 14, 2024. The virus is categorised into two primary clades: Clade I and Clade II. The recent global outbreak from 2022 to 2023 was predominantly linked to Clade II, which is known to cause milder symptoms compared to Clade I.
As of now, there have been no reported cases of Clade I in Pakistan, the official said. Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus, a species of the genus Orthopoxvirus. Common symptoms of mpox are a skin rash or mucosal lesions, which can last two to four weeks, accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes.
“Mpox can be transmitted through close contact with someone who has mpox, with contaminated materials, or with infected animals. During pregnancy, the virus may be passed to the fetus or to the newborn during or after birth,” the WHO website says.
(With agency inputs)
