Four new polio cases reported in KP and Sindh

KARACHI: Four new polio cases have been reported in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), raising the number of polio-affected children to nine during the current year.

According to reports, cases of polio were diagnosed in Lakki Marwat District of KP province and from Karachi.

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The reports stated that a 2.5-year-old child was diagnosed with the virus from Karachi, while two other infants, aged only two months, have also been confirmed in Lakki Marwat.

In October, two new polio cases were reported in Qilla Abdullah district of Balochistan, raising the number of polio-affected children to five during the current year.

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According to the report of the World Health Organization (WHO), 49 polio cases from KP, 6 each from Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan provinces were reported this year.

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Officials claim reluctance on the part of parents to immunize children against polio is the main reason behind the spike in the number of polio cases in Pakistan this year.

Pakistan is among the three countries in the world, including Afghanistan and Nigeria, where poliovirus still exists.