ISLAMABAD: The National Institute of Health’s Polio Virology Laboratory confirmed another five polio cases on Tuesday night, taking the number of cases reported this year to 171.

Two cases have been reported in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and one each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan.

Also read: Two more polio cases confirmed

Those afflicted by the crippling disease are: 46-month-old Sadia, daughter of Syed Alam, resident of Fort Slope, Surdand Camp village in tehsil Bara, Khyber Agency; nine-month-old Abdul Samad, son of Khair Zaman, resident of Khushali village, tehsil Razmak, North Waziristan Agency; eight-month-old Mohammad Talha, son of Nisar, resident of UC Gomal Bazaar, Kot Azam village, tehsil Tank; 24-month-old Hazrat Bilal, son of Khayal Mohammad, resident of UC-2, Khamosh Colony, Liaquatabad Town, Karachi; and 23-month-old Mohammad Ibrahim, son of Maulvi Mohammad Idrees, resident of UC Kharotabad, Pashtoon Bagh village, Quetta.

An official at the Ministry of National Health Services said the two children in Fata could not be vaccinated because of a ‘ban on vaccination’ imposed by the Taliban in June 2012.

The parents of the two children in KP and Balochistan refused to get them vaccinated by the polio team. The child in Karachi received three OPV doses, but it appeared that his immunity was very low and might be affected because of the presence of the virus in the area, the official said.

Of the 171 cases detected this year, 121 have been reported in Fata, 29 in KP, 15 in Sindh, four in Balochistan and two in Punjab.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2014