ISLAMABAD: The nation announced a new case of polio on Thursday, increasing the total to 73 occurrences for 2024 and the second day in a row that new cases have been recorded.
The discovery of the 73rd wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case from Thatta was confirmed by a representative of the National Institutes of Health’s Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication.
“This is Thatta’s first polio case of 2024. The instance has been included in last year’s tally as the sample was taken in December of that year. According to the official, the sample must incubate for almost three weeks, however this time may increase in the winter.
Although the lab receives hundreds of samples, it is important to note that only a small percentage of them test positive for the virus, and it takes roughly three weeks to determine whether a child has polio.
With 73 cases recorded in 2024, Pakistan has been responding to a notable resurgence of WPV1. Of them, one each from Punjab and Islamabad, twenty-seven from Balochistan, twenty-two from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and twenty-two from Sindh,” he continued.
Every year, the Pakistan Polio Program organizes several large immunization campaigns to deliver the vaccine right to kids’ doorsteps.