Pakistan has faced another setback in its fight against polio, with a new case of paralysis confirmed in a child from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district. The case, reported on Sunday, increases the total number of polio infections in the country to 48 for the year. Of these, 10 cases have been reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad confirmed the diagnosis after testing the child’s samples at the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication. The child, who hails from an area still struggling with polio transmission, is the latest victim of a virus that continues to spread despite efforts to curb it.
Genetic sequencing of the samples is currently underway to better understand the transmission patterns and to assist in planning more targeted vaccination campaigns in the region.
This case follows another polio detection earlier in the week. On Friday, a polio case was confirmed in Ghotki district, Sindh. This marked the first case in Ghotki for the year, raising alarms about the virus reaching new areas.
Among Pakistan’s provinces, Balochistan has reported the highest number of polio cases this year, with 23 confirmed cases. Sindh follows with 13 cases, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has recorded 10. Punjab and Islamabad have reported one case each.
Pakistan remains one of only two countries in the world where the wild poliovirus has not yet been eradicated. Health officials say the ongoing spread is largely due to challenges such as insecurity, misinformation, and resistance within some communities. These factors make vaccination campaigns more difficult and hinder efforts to fully eliminate the virus.
Polio is a highly contagious disease, primarily affecting children under the age of five. Children who are malnourished or have weakened immune systems due to lack of vaccination are particularly vulnerable. The virus attacks the nervous system and can cause paralysis, or even death.
Although there is no cure for polio, health officials stress that vaccination is the best defense against this deadly disease. With Pakistan still struggling to eradicate polio, officials urge parents to support the ongoing vaccination campaigns and ensure their children receive the necessary doses of the polio vaccine.
