KARACHI:Emergency Operation Centre for Polio in Sindh on Friday confirmed a new polio case in district Larkana’s UC Seehar, raising polio cases toll to 20 in Sindh and 58 in Pakistan in 2020 so far.
According to details, an 82 months female child in Larkana was diagnosed with the polio virus after her stool samples were sent to NIH following developing of weakness in her left upper and lower limb. According to parents, the girl had received OPV on multiple occasions, but had no routine immunization or IPV. Further investigation into the claims is ongoing.
According to Spokesperson EOC, Sindh has back to back successful anti-polio campaigns from December 2019 to March 2020 which have gone a long way to put the polio programme on track. However, the global polio eradication initiative was halted since the outbreak of COVID-19 and no campaigns could be conducted since then.
The spokesperson said: “As we move forward, EOC is planning a small-scale outbreak response campaign in Karachi from the 20th of July and is also planning on a larger scale campaign in the province in August to protect children from polio.”
“The details of the upcoming campaigns are under discussion and information will be provided once the decisions are finalized. We deal with the Pandemic we must also deal with childhood immunization and we will deliver these campaigns with the safety of all stakeholders in mind.