KARACHI - Another polio positive child detected in Karachi on Wednesday, surging the toll of affected children to 11 alone in the largest metropolis this year, said the health officials.
Rafia, a 22-month-old girl, was confirmed to be the latest victim of the crippling polio virus in City’s UC-8 of Gadap Town. It is the third case from the same union council and fifth from Gadap Town.

After emergence of five 13 polio cases on Tuesday, the toll has reached 158. Out of which, 112 in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), 29 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 12 Sindh, three Balochistan and two new cases have surfaced in Punjab this year.
Polio virus mainly affects children below the age of five.
Pakistan is in the spotlight as the only country with endemic polio that saw cases which rose last year. The cases rose to 93 from 58 in 2012, accounting for more than a fifth of the 417 cases globally in 2013.
The virus invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours. There is no cure for the disease but it can be prevented by immunisation. The polio vaccine, administered multiple times, can protect a child for life.
APP adds: Karachiites have expressed their concern about the persistence of polio virus in the metropolis.
They have urged the authorities concerned to review arrangements made for maintenance of cold chain during each OPV administration campaign in the province.
Talking to APP on Wednesday, many parents said the province that had registered 12 polio cases this year, including 11 from Karachi only, was a cause of serious concern.
They said the situation demanded that targeted group of children pertaining to families not averse to OPV administration are provided extra protection and care.
“This is with particular reference to maintenance of the vaccine quality as according to current practice we often found volunteers and vaccinators carrying small buckets with ice almost melted,” said Yasmin Mukhtar, a resident of North Karachi.
To a question, she said, “Each of the vial may have a system reflecting its efficacy, yet the fact remain that under the given weather and environmental conditions extreme care has to be ensured towards maintenance of the cold chain.”
Muhammad Mutahir, a father of six from Gulshan-e-Iqbal said most of the polio-affected children in Karachi, this year, belonged to a particular ethnic group and families with a track record of refusals.
“The fact further aggravates our concern that any complacency with regard to quality maintenance of the vaccine can enhance vulnerability of other children who may have been duly immunized,” he said.
Dr Abbas Raza agreeing to the concern of the parents said there always remain chances where a child who might have taken required doses of OPV may still be struck with the virus of the crippling disease.
“The plausible intervention is across the board immunization of all children without any distinction,” said the doctor advising authorities to ensure a fool proof strategy turning concerned parents compliant to state writ.
“We have to achieve the zero prevalence vis-a-vis polio virus and also sustaining it for three consecutive years to be declared as polio free,” said an EPI-Sindh official.
He hinted that provincial government is contemplating to adopt a strict approach ensuring that no refusals are tolerated.
“This is all the more important as a steady number of children kept unvaccinated, due to no fault of their own, are arriving here and we have to cater them too,” said the official.
Against a total number of 158 confirmed polio cases in country this year Sindh has reported 12 including one from Sanghar.