CHAKWAL: Efforts to eradicate the polio virus have been intensified in Chakwal district after Punjab’s first polio case of the year was registered here on Thursday.

Rohan Raza, 6, son of Ghulam Raza from Kotli Syedan village in the Choa Saidan Shah tehsil, was diagnosed with the polio virus on Thursday by the National Institute of Health, Islamabad.

The diagnosis is a cause of concern for Chakwal officials. Punjab has typically been considered safe from the polio virus. It witnessed its sole case last year – which also surfaced in Chakwal – when a three-year-old girl from Kallar Kahar was diagnosed with polio. Until 2014, Chakwal district was considered ‘polio free’.

“We held a meeting with World Health Organisation (WHO) representatives where it was decided that we would enhance our efforts to eradicate the virus in the district,” District Coordination Officer (DCO) Javed Mehmood Bhatti told Dawn. He added that a three-day polio vaccination campaign will be launched in the district – from October 14 to October 16.

“The vaccination campaign will also be launched in adjoining districts,” he said.

District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Aleem Danish also visited Ghulam Raza’s son on Thursday to examine his son. “The child was properly vaccinated, and that is why his condition is quite normal,” he told Dawn. Danish said the child would recover soon if he did not miss a single vaccination.

Rohan Raza fell ill on September 11. He was suffering from pain in his left leg and a high fever. Rohan was taken to a child specialist in Chakwal who reported the child’s symptoms to the health department. His case was then referred to NIH Islamabad, who diagnosed him on Thursday.

“My child is quite normal and is going to school,” Rohan’s mother, Taskeen Zahra, told Dawn. Dr Danish said that a polio day would be observed in the area soon.

“Ghulam Raza, the child’s father, is a truck driver who has been travelling to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) for the last month. He might be the carrier of the polio virus, but this hasn’t been confirmed yet,” Danish said. He added that many Pakhtuns and Afghan nationals live near the Kotli Syedan village.

“But there isn’t a single area in the district where children haven’t been vaccinated. There is no hurdle in the vaccination drive,” he added.

Published in Dawn, October 10th , 2015

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