LAHORE, Oct 15: Three more cases of polio were confirmed on Wednesday, raising the total number of the crippling disease carriers to 80 this year.

Sources in the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, told Dawn that 14-month-old Zonaira Aslam of Okara, one-and-a-half year old Asad Pannu of Kasur and Saima Riaz of Bahawalpur had been tested positive for poliomyelitis.

They also revealed that none of the three children had routine immunisation.

Forty-four children of the total 80 cases confirmed this year never had routine immunisation, while 11 of them never had an extra dose during anti-polio campaigns.

According to the breakdown of the cases tested positive for poliomyelitis, 33 are in the NWFP and Fata, 21 in Punjab, 16 in Sindh, six in Balochistan and four in Islamabad.

Last year, some 32 children had fallen prey to the disease.

A study conducted to determine the causes of outbreak of the disease suggests that poor sanitation and lack of accesses to clean drinking water are among the prime reasons for transmission of poliomyelitis.

Besides, inadequate anti-polio campaigns are also said to be responsible for emergence of a large number of fresh cases, especially in Punjab where only two such drives had been launched during the last two years.

The health authorities claim that some of the fresh polio cases reported in Punjab are those whose families shifted to the province from the troubled areas in the NWFP while the other belong to nomad tribes living under utmost ‘unhygienic conditions’.

The reason cited behind the increase in polio incidence in the country is that a large number of children of the troubled areas of the NWFP and Fata remained unvaccinated during the last few years.

A senior health officer says a campaign must fully cover its target area so that no child up to the age of five years could fall prey to the disease that causes permanent disability. Besides, such campaigns should also be monitored at all levels, he adds.