KARACHI: The surge in polio cases the country has seen this year was not entirely unpredictable given the fact that the environmental samples collected from across the country from March last year till now have shown presence of the polio virus in many districts.

Also, it is important to note that out of 91 polio cases that have surfaced so far, routine immunisation coverage was not found in 60 cases.

These points were highlighted by Dr Ali Faisal Saleem, paediatric infectious diseases specialist at the Aga Khan University (AKU), at a presser organised at the press club on Friday.

The event was organised by the Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Society of Pakistan (MMIDSP).

“While the country reported only 12 polio cases last year, the test results of sewage samples collected from 35 districts came out positive, suggesting that the situation could be bad this year,” said Dr Saleem.

This year, 91 polio cases had been reported in the country, five times higher than last year. Of them, 66 were from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, most from Bannu district, whereas Sindh had 13 cases.

“The good news, however, is that we have been able to eliminate type two and type three strains of polio,” he said.

Speaking about the challenges being faced in polio eradication, he regretted public misconceptions about the safety and efficacy of polio vaccine and contended one shouldn’t have any ambiguity about the vaccine as other countries like Bangladesh and India used the same vaccine to eliminate the crippling disease.

Dr Saleem emphasised the need for strengthening the Expanded Programme for Immunisation and argued that success in the polio programme couldn’t be achieved without enhancing the coverage of routine immunisation.

“Out of the 91 polio cases [that have] surfaced so far, 60 cases had no history of routine immunisation,” he told journalists, adding that the government’s commitments to the programme could be assessed from the fact that it’s the first time that it was using its own funds on the cause.

Replying to another question about the negative report on Pakistan’s polio programme by an international body, he said the government was engaging all stakeholders now and had set up committees in which all provinces had representation.

“All fears about the vaccine are unjustified and there is a strong need to create awareness and mobilise communities especially the educated segments of society showing hesitance and resistance towards the campaign,” he said, adding that the government needed to focus on children being missed in campaigns.

Dr Fyezah Jahan, also from AKU, spoke about the safety of typhoid vaccine and approaching influenza season and said the new typhoid conjugate vaccine had an efficacy up to 80 per cent and provided long-lasting immunity.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2019