ISLAMABAD: Amid an ongoing nationwide polio immunization campaign, health authorities on April 23 confirmed Pakistan’s 7th polio case of the year — an 11-year-old boy from the remote Torghar district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) — reigniting concerns about persistent viral circulation despite intensified efforts to eradicate the crippling disease.
According to Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad, the child developed symptoms of isolated right-side facial paralysis on March 14, 2025. Notably, there were no signs of limb weakness, making the case atypical and raising eyebrows among health officials. “This is not a usual presentation. The child is older than our typical vaccination target group of under-five children and has only facial paralysis. However, it underscores importance of our surveillance system and persistent circulation of the virus,” a senior official from the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) told The News. Genetic sequencing of the virus reveals a 99.23pc match to a strain previously found in environmental sample from Karachi on November 4, 2024. This linkage between environmental detection and human infection indicates that poliovirus continues to move silently across country.
The new case marks the second confirmed polio case from KP this year. In total, Pakistan has now reported seven cases in 2025 — a grim reminder of continued challenge polio poses to public health in country. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s second National Immunisation Days (NIDs) campaign of the year is currently underway, aiming to vaccinate 45.4m children under five across all provinces and regions. The drive, running from April 21 to 27, includes Torghar and is part of an intensified effort to reach every child with repeated doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV).
According to NEOC officials, over 24.7m children were administered polio drops in the first two days of campaign. Vaccination coverage so far stands at 56% in Punjab, 58% in KP, 48% in Sindh, 54% in Balochistan, 45% in Islamabad, 66% in AJK, and 63% in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Published in News Daily on 24-April-2025.
