By 
18-11-2024
Markela Ndocaj
Pakistan Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence.
Pakistan has reported another polio case: the National Institute of Health confirmed that a one-year-old male child in the Jaffarabad district of Balochistan was diagnosed with wild poliovirus (WPV1), bringing the total of those infected to 49 this year.
This latest case, marks the district’s first confirmed polio infection, highlighting the virus’s ongoing spread across Pakistan, as announced by health authorities.
Poliomyelitis, also known as polio, is a systemic viral infection affecting the motor neurons present in the central nervous system, which can be prevented with vaccines. Of the three wild poliovirus serotypes, the only one to still exist is WPV1. WPV2 has been declared since September 2015, with the last case detected in 1999. WPV3 was declared eradicated in October 2019 after a final case in 2012 (ECDC, 2023).
Although Poliovirus infections can eventually lead to extreme cases even extended to death, the majority of the infections are asymptomatic: up to 70 percent of those infected experience no symptoms and about 25 percent experience soft symptoms. Paralytic poliomyelitis occurs in less than one percent of all cases. After 30 days of contracting the virus, most of the reversible damage will have vanished, and some return of function can still be expected for up to nine months (ECDC, 2023).
Pakistan currently remains one of the only two countries where wild poliovirus still exists, targeting younger and weaker individuals such as malnourished children or those living in troubling sanitary environments.
The polio vaccine campaign plays a big role in this case, as it is specifically needed to better the chances of the Pakistani children who are being subjected to this life-threatening risk.
Sources and further readings:
Dawn, ‘Another polio case takes this year’s tally to 49’, November 15th, 2024.
Available at: https://www.dawn.com/news/. Accessed November 18th, 2024.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) ‘Disease factsheet about poliomyelitis’ November 28th, 2023.
Available at: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/poliomyelitis/facts. Accessed November 18th, 2024.
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