File photo by Pak Fights Polio 

By Imran Nasir

ISLAMABAD (TSAT) - Pakistan on Friday confirmed its first polio cases after nearly 15 months as a child in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa paralyzed by the crippling disease, officials said.

In a statement, Pakistan Polio Eradication Program said, a 15-month-old boy was paralyzed by wild poliovirus in the first such case in 15 months. This is the third case of wild polio to be recorded globally in 2022.

"The type-1 wild poliovirus (WPV1) was confirmed in the child from North Waziristan on 22 April 2022 by the Pakistan National polio laboratory at the NIH, Islamabad, with the onset of paralysis on 9 April. The Pakistan polio laboratory also confirmed detection of a positive environmental sample collected on 5 April 2022, from Bannu district of the same province. Both these viruses are closely related to each other," said the program officials. 

Pakistan had reported one case last year with an onset on 27 January 2021 in Killa Abdullah, Balochistan.

 Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by poliovirus mainly affecting children under the age of five years. It invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis or even death. 

While there is no cure for polio, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from this crippling disease. Each time a child under the age of five is vaccinated, their protection against the virus is increased. 

Repeated immunisations have protected millions of children from polio, allowing almost all countries in the world to become polio-free, besides the two endemic countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“This is, of course, a tragedy for the child and his family and it is also very unfortunate both for Pakistan and polio eradication efforts all over the world. We are disappointed but not deterred,” said Secretary Health Aamir Ashraf. 

“The case has appeared in Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the poliovirus was detected in the environment late last year and where an emergency action plan is already being implemented.”

“The National and Provincial Polio Emergency Operations Centres have deployed teams to conduct a full investigation of the recent case, while emergency immunization campaigns are underway to prevent further spread of the wild poliovirus in Pakistan,” the Health Secretary added.

Southern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had been identified by the polio programme as the area most at risk after wild poliovirus was detected in environmental samples in the last quarter of 2021. 

Positive environmental samples of wild poliovirus in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had been found in DI Khan and Bannu divisions, according to the statement. 

Wild poliovirus types 2 and 3 have been eradicated globally, while WPV1 cases are on a historic low. Two other WPV1 cases have been reported this year, one each in Afghanistan and Malawi.