LANDI KOTAL: Health officials detected two new polio cases in Khyber Agency on Tuesday.

Parents of 18-month-old Abdur Rehman said that the child was admitted to Landi Kotal hospital a few days ago with constant high fever. With no improvement in his condition, doctors referred him to Peshawar where his medical tests were conducted while some tests were also sent to Islamabad for verification of poliovirus.

On Tuesday, the doctors announced that he was affected by poliovirus. Family sources and health staff at the agency surgeon office insisted that Mr Rehman was administered polio vaccine for seven consecutive times, but even then he contracted poliovirus.

Health officials immediately sent teams comprising representatives of the WHO and UNHCR to Mirdadkhel where Mr Rehman belonged to. Agency surgeon Dr Niaz Afridi told Dawn that 53 of the total 55 children under age five in the said locality had been regularly given polio vaccine during the previous campaigns.

“This case is of serious concern for us as we had made all-out efforts that no child is left out during our routine and special vaccination campaigns,” a visibly perturbed Dr Afridi said.

The second case surfaced in Mastak area of Tirah where officials said that they were unable to conduct regular campaigns due to law and order situation.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2015

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