ISLAMABAD: The National Institute of Health reported the country’s second case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) for the new year on Wednesday when a sample from Sindh’s Badin district tested positive at its laboratory in Islamabad.

The first case of the year was reported from Dera Ismail Khan district, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A total of 74 cases were reported last year. Of these, 27 were from Balochistan, 23 from Sindh, 22 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

Polio is a paralysing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five is essential to provide children high immunity.

“The Pakistan Polio Programme conducts multiple mass vaccination drives every year, bringing the vaccine to children at their doorsteps, while the Expanded Programme on Immunisation provides vaccinations against 12 childhood diseases free of cost at health facilities,” an official of the National Health Institute’s Regional Reference Laboratory said.

“It is crucial for parents to ensure vaccination for all their children under the age of five to keep them protected,” he said.

Poliovirus invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis or even death. While there is no cure, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from this crippling disease.

Repeated immunisations have protected millions of children from polio, allowing almost all countries in the world to become free of the disease, except for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2025