N WAZIRISTAN, Oct 1(ABC): Pakistan has reported another case of poliovirus from the mountainous North Waziristan, taking this year’s tally of crippling disease to 20.
According to Health Ministry officials confirmed Friday that poliovirus was detected in a ten-month-old baby in North Waziristan’s Union Council Ghulam Khan, an area located near the border of Afghanistan..
This is the 17th case of poliovirus that has been reported from North Waziristan this year.
During September, a total of five cases of poliovirus was reported. Of these, three were from North Waziristan and one each from South Waziristan and Lakki Marwat.
Polio or poliomyelitis is a crippling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus. It leads to acute flaccid paralysis in 1 out of 2,000 people infected by the virus.
However, in many cases, symptoms are not visible and a fourth of the infected persons experience flu-like symptoms such as sore throat, fever, nausea, stomach pain, headache, and tiredness, according to information shared by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC warns that poliovirus could also cause meningitis (infection of the spinal cord and/or brain) occurs in about 1-5% of persons infected with the poliovirus (depending on the virus type).
Even children who seem to fully recover can develop new muscle pain, weakness, or paralysis as adults, 15 to 40 years later, the CDC outlines. This is called the post-polio syndrome.
Inhibiting transmission
Health practitioners warn that poliovirus is extremely contagious and spreads through person-to-person contact therefore vaccination is the key to disease prevention.
Pakistan’s government undertakes massive measures to inoculate children between the ages of 1 to 5 every year and encourages parents to remain vigilant about the health of their children, yet the laxity of some guardians has led to the spread of the virus once again.
Currently, only Pakistan and Afghanistan are infested by the paralyzing virus and are battling to end its existence.
The virus lives in the intestine of the infected person for several weeks. It is also hosted by the mouth of the sick person. Thereby the chances of infection from person-to-person contact are high.
The disease is also on the global watch list because the contagion survives in food and water too.
