July 25, 2008	Friday	Rajab 21, 1429

KARACHI, July 24: A case of polio has been detected in Karachi, raising the number of victims this year to 18 — 11 of them in Sindh.

The national programme manager of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation, Dr H. B. Memon, told Dawn on Thursday that an eight-month-old boy living in Saddar town had tested positive for polio virus.

The test was conducted at the National Institute of Health.

This most recent case had onset of paralysis on July 9, he said, adding that it was the first case of the peak-season months with respect to the spread of the disease.The programme manager announced the next sub-national immunisation days would be observed from July 28 to 30, across Sindh and in high-risk areas of Balochistan, the NWFP and Punjab.

He said that efforts were being made to increase awareness activities at the local level and to secure support from the communities.

In 2008 Sindh reported the maximum number of polio cases, followed by the NWFP (5) and Balochistan (2).

Swat district of the NWFP has reported two polio cases, involving cousins, since July 16.

According to a source privy to the immunisation programme, with the third confirmed polio case in Karachi this year, the city shares 16.66 per cent cases reported in the country since Jan 1.