A 23-month-old girl was diagnosed with poliovirus a day after her death on August 19 in Kharan district, Balochistan.

According to girl’s parents, she developed a high fever, paralysis in her lower limbs and neck muscles on July 31, and passed away at a hospital in Quetta on August 19.

The family initially treated the 23-month-old girl at home for 5 days after she developed symptoms on July 31. They then took her to a local informal healthcare provider on August 4.

Three days later, on August 7, the child was taken to a private hospital, where she was identified as a suspected case of poliovirus. The case was immediately investigated on the same day, and a sample was sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) for testing.

Importantly, the child had no history of receiving any intramuscular injections in the 24 hours before the onset of paralysis symptoms.

Additionally, there was no reported travel history for the child before the onset of the poliovirus infection.

Meanwhile, this brings the total number of polio cases in Pakistan this year to 15.

“Balochistan is facing an intense outbreak of WPV1 following disruptions to polio vaccination campaigns last year, and vulnerable children are now suffering the consequences of missing a crucial vaccine which offers protection from this terrible disease,” Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq said.

“The virus is extremely efficient in finding those children with weak levels of immunity and showing us where we have consistently missed children, not just in polio campaigns but also for routine immunization.”

“Poliovirus has been found in 59 districts so far, with the most detections in Quetta and Karachi blocs of Balochistan and Sindh. High-risk districts are a high priority for us, and we will make all efforts to ensure that no child is missed during this campaign,” he added.

Balochistan remains an epicenter for polio, with 12 of the 15 cases reported from 8 different districts within the province - Dera Bugti, Chaman, Qila Abdullah, Quetta, Jhal Magsi, Zhob, Qila Saifullah, and now Kharan.

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