KARACHI: The provincial authorities on Wednesday received confirmation from Islamabad that two out of the latest five cases of polio belonged to Sindh — one each from Karachi and Dadu — bringing the tally to 21 in Sindh with 19 reported from its capital only, officials said.

One of the latest victims is a child from Karachi belonging to a Pakhtun family residing in Gadap, making the neighbourhood one of the worst polio sanctuaries in the country, where 10 of the 19 cases of Karachi have been reported.

With the five new cases in the country, the year’s total reached 217 cases, while the rest of the world had produced just 15 per cent cases of polio, officials added.

The officials in Islamabad and the provincial health department said the poliovirus crippled a seven-month-old girl, Hakimzadi, a daughter of Sanaullah, in Baledai union council of Dadu district’s Mehar taluka.

They added that the samples of the girl had been sent to the National Institute of Health four weeks ago. The NIH confirmed it to be a polio case on Wednesday. The disease has affected both legs of the girl.

The officials said the girl had not been inoculated in the routine immunisation campaign; however, she was immunised twice in two special drives.

They added that the child might have weaker immunity because of malnutrition — a major factor faced by about half the children in the province.

In Karachi, an 18-month-old boy identified as Anas, a son of Akbar Zaman Mehsud, resident of UC-5 of Gadap Town, was confirmed with polio that affected both of his lower limbs.

The officials said his parents claimed that the child had been inoculated with polio vaccine more than once; however, vaccinators’ records showed that the family had refused during previous campaigns.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2014