By Hina Kiyani
ISLAMABAD: The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the NIH has confirmed the detection of two new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases.
The lab confirmed one case each from District Kambar in Sindh and District Mandi Bahauddin in Punjab. This is the third polio case from Sindh and the first from Punjab this year, bringing the total number of cases in the country to five. Last year in 2024, a total of 74 cases were reported. Of these, 27 were from Balochistan, 23 from Sindh, 22 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
Polio is a paralyzing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five is essential to provide children high immunity against this terrible disease.
The Polio Programme is implementing a rigorous vaccination schedule to protect children from paralytic polio and interrupt virus transmission.
The first nationwide polio campaign of 2025 reached over 45 million children with the vaccine earlier this month, while a fIPV-OPV campaign is underway in Karachi and Quetta Division to vaccinate nearly one million children with the injectable and oral polio vaccines for an added immunity boost.
This campaign is aligned with the big catch-up also being implemented nationwide by the Expanded Programme on Immunization to immunize missed or under-vaccinated children against 12 preventable childhood diseases.
A targeted vaccination activity in 104 union councils bordering Afghanistan or having Afghan refugee camps and populations is also in progress (February 24-28) to vaccinate over 0.66 million children, to reduce the risk of cross-border and internal poliovirus transmission.
The Polio Programme urged all parents to get their children vaccinated against polio at every opportunity to keep them protected from this devastating disease.
