KARACHI: Another child was confirmed with the crippling poliovirus in Sindh on Tuesday, officials said.

The officials in the provincial health department said they had sent stool samples of 10-month-old Abdul Aleem, son of Abdul Haq, hailing from Naushahro Feroze, to the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, for confirmation late last year.

The result of the examination was received by the provincial authorities on Tuesday morning, confirming that the child was another victim of the crippling disease.

With this case, the officials said, the provincial toll for 2014 increased to 30 while Pakistan’s polio cases went beyond 300 with six more cases pending confirmation.

The child’s family resided in Ghanghro union council of Kandiaro taluka , the officials said.

The boy was not inoculated against polio in nationwide polio campaigns but was vaccinated thrice during special drives, they added.

Five more cases — two from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and as many from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and one from Punjab — were also confirmed by the NIH, Islamabad.

His right leg has been affected by polio, according to officials.

The officials said all the cases were pending since December 2014 thus bringing the last year’s total tally to 303. Fata endured the greatest brunt of the disease with 177 cases followed by 69 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 30 from Sindh, 23 from Balochistan and four from Punjab.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2015

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