Pakistan sparks global health concern with 50th polio case

Published On : 2024-11-19T23:55:05+0530 [ IST ] | Author : Mayur_Tembhare
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Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) sparked global health concerns with the revelation of another polio case on Tuesday which brings the total number of cases in 2024 to 50 as per ARY News

According to the operations center the latest case was identified by the National Reference Lab in a 2 month old girl from Tank district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who was confirmed to have Wild Poliovirus Type 1

This is the second case reported by Tank this year with a genetic connection linked to a case from July in the same district.

Balochistan continues to be the most affected with 24 cases reported this year followed by Sindh with 13, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 11 and both Punjab and Islamabad each reporting one case.

The case detected in Jaffarabad in Balochistan marked the district's first confirmed polio infection and highlighted the continued spread of the virus across the country.

Genetic sequencing of the virus sample carried out by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad has traced the virus to a WPV1 strain previously identified in April in Pishin

Besides Afghanistan Pakistan remains the only country where wild poliovirus transmission has yet to be eradicated. The continued spread of the virus is largely attributed to challenges such as insecurity, misinformation and community resistance all of which hinder vaccination efforts.

Polio affects the nervous system often resulting in paralysis or even death. Although there is no cure for the disease health officials stress that vaccination remains the most effective way to prevent infection.

Source : Reporters From Sunrise Chronicles

Tags : National Institute , This , health2 month old girl , The , July , vaccinationwild poliovirus transmission , poliosparked global health concerns , virusimplement emergency measures , National Emergency Operations Centre , nationalhavewild poliovirus type 1 ,

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