LARKANA: Two suspected cases of polio were detected in Haitam Sohu village in Nasirabad town and samples of their stool were sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, for confirmation of the disease.

Sources told Dawn on Wednesday that legs and arms of two-year-old Falak Naz Khokhar and her cousin Moazzam Ali had become so crippled they could not make any move.

The parents informed the district health officials of Qambar-Shahdadkot about their condition and they subsequently collected the samples of both children for further investigation.

Dr Shah Alam Solangi, polio eradication officer of WHO, confirmed sending stool samples the children to NIH for analysis. “The results of the samples are being awaited,” he said.

He said: “This is a case of acute flaccid paralysis and that’s why the samples have been sent to the NIH.” In total, 40 samples of suspected cases had been referred to NIH in 2016 and so far results of 36 had been received but none of them was positive, he said.

Published in Dawn September 8th, 2016