Sindh reports two new polio cases as Pakistan virus crisis deepens

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s southern Sindh province has reported two more polio cases, authorities said late Saturday, amid a worsening outbreak of the virus in the South Asian country.
A reference laboratory at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad confirmed the wild poliovirus type-1 (WPV1) cases in a girl child in Sindh’s Sanghar district and a boy child in the Mirpur Khas district, according to the Pakistani polio program.
The fresh cases have taken the nationwide tally to 39 this year.
“These are the first polio cases from Mirpur Khas and Sanghar this year,” the program said in a statement. “Sanghar shares a border with Mirpur Khas from where several environmental samples have tested positive for WPV1 since April, indicating virus circulation in this area.”
Health officials have confirmed 20 polio cases in Balochistan, 12 in Sindh, five in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and one each in Punjab and Islamabad so far this year, according to the statement. Genetic sequencing of the cases is underway.
There is no cure for polio, and paralysis caused by an infection is irreversible.
“The intense virus transmission and increase in polio cases is indicative of the harm that children suffer when they miss opportunities for vaccination,” it read.
The Pakistan polio program said it will be launching a nationwide vaccination campaign from October 28 to vaccinate more than 45 million children under the age of five against paralytic polio.
“It is critical for parents to open their door to vaccinators during this drive and ensure that all children in their care receive two drops of the crucial oral polio vaccine to keep them protected from the devastating effects of polio,” it added.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio remains an endemic. Since late 2018, Pakistan has seen a resurgence of cases and increased spread of poliovirus, highlighting the fragility of gains achieved in the preceding three years.