Third case of poliovirus in City

LAHORE: The health authorities have registered a third case of poliovirus in Lahore in less than three months, which took the tally of polio cases to 10 across the country during the ongoing year so far.A 13-month-old female child was confirmed with Wild Polio Virus (WPV-1) on Friday in the Malik Park area of Data Ganj Bakhsh Town in Lahore. Earlier, an 11-year-old male child from a slum area of Allama Iqbal Town in Lahore has been confirmed on May 1, 2019, and an eight-month-old male child from Shalamar Town in Punjab’s capital city was detected with the WPV-1 on February 14, 2019. It took the overall tally of confirmed cases this year so far to 10 including three from Lahore, two from Bannu and one each from Hangu, Waziristan, Bajaur, Khyber Tribal district and Karachi.The latest case with a history of zero vaccination during routine immunization and Supplementary Immunization Activities (SIAs) has raised doubts about the effectiveness of frequent campaigns to administer polio vaccine to children in Lahore. The health teams noted that children living in a multiple-storey were hidden refusals and five of the children also missed routine and SIAs campaigns. It was also noted that drinking water was used from both sources of groundwater and the government supply, adding that the community acceptability for IPV/OPV is present but there are issues of compliance and awareness. “The affected girl’s one brother has already died due to polio, while her paternal aunt is also a polio patient,” Suleman Khan, General Secretary of United Health Federation, told The News, adding that the affected family still refused to take the vaccination. According to World Health Organization, he said, the detection of poliovirus in one child increases vulnerability of 200 children in the vicinity to contract the disease. He urged the government to make legislation to make it mandatory for the parents/family to get their children vaccinated against vaccine-preventable diseases including polio, otherwise, he feared that the government would not be able to eradicate the disease among the public. Former Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique condemned the government for its criminal negligence in responding to the challenge proactively, which resulted in the reemergence of poliovirus in Lahore, which endangered the lives of the children with a lurking risk of acquiring the crippling disease. “The inefficiency of the current PTI government has undone the good work of the previous PML-N government in achieving the zero polio in the provincial capital in its last tenure,” he added. When contacted, Director General Health Services, Punjab, Dr Haroon Jehangir, confirming the third case of poliovirus in Lahore, said that Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), Punjab, was evaluating the matter on scientific grounds to assess the causes of resurfacing of the poliovirus in Lahore. “The investigation will reveal whether it was due to vaccine’s efficacy, parents’ refusal or the failure of the coverage through anti-polio campaigns,” he added.However, he said that the government would launch another anti-polio campaign from May 13 in selected pockets with a view to ensuring full coverage among missing children.

from The News International - National http://bit.ly/2Vhi7qP