• The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, has confirmed two wild poliovirus type-1 (WPV1) cases from Sindh.
  • The two affected children include a girl child from Sanghar district and a boy child from Mirpur Khas district.
  • The total number of polio cases for this year has reached 39, including 20 from Balochistan, 12 from Sindh, five from KP, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
  • Genetic sequencing of the cases is underway.
  • These are the first polio cases from Mirpur Khas and Sanghar this year. Sanghar shares a border with Mirpur Khas from where several environmental samples have tested positive for WPV1 since April, indicating virus circulation in this area.
  • The intense virus transmission and increase in polio cases is indicative of the harm that children suffer when they miss opportunities for vaccination.
  • The Pakistan Polio Programme is launching a nationwide polio vaccination campaign from October 28 to vaccinate more than 45 million children under the age of five against paralytic polio.
  • It is critical for parents to open their door to vaccinators during this drive and ensure that all children in their care receive two drops of the crucial oral polio vaccine to keep them protected from the devastating effects of polio.