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ISLAMABAD: Environmental samples from Rawalpindi and Islamabad gave negative results for poliovirus, although the virus becomes more active during the peak season of transmission.
The Prime Minister's spokesman for polio, Babar Bin Atta, said it was the first time that the vaccine was found in Rawalpindi's wastewater, but the polio virus had not been not.
"This shows that over 95% of children are vaccinated in Rawalpindi. While Rawalpindi was cleaned up, the environmental samples from Islamabad were also cleaned up, "he told Dawn.
Atta said Rawalpindi's deputy commissioner, Chaudhry Mohammad Ali Randhawa, was leading the polio vaccination teams himself, which explains the improvement in the city.
Rawalpindi sewage tested for polio vaccine for the first time but not for virus, polio official said
He added that the poliovirus had been eradicated from environmental samples taken in Islamabad after the operation of the Katchi abadi I-11 in 2015, but then resurfaced in the capital. Samples from Islamabad are once again negative because of effective campaigns in Rawalpindi, he said.
A sample is considered negative if the poliovirus is found in wastewater. Wastewater samples are the basic parameter for determining whether polio vaccination campaigns have been successful; a case of poliomyelitis can be reported in any city because of frequent movements of people from one city to another, but if the virus is detected in sewage, the vaccination campaign did not reach his target.
The presence of poliomyelitis in wastewater also shows that the immunity of children in the region has decreased and they are at risk.
Mr. Atta said it was even more positive that the samples from the twinned cities were tested negatively during the peak transmission season.
Poliovirus is less active during the low transmission season from September to May due to lower temperatures. It becomes more active from June to August, when many children can be affected.
"This shows that when a city is rid of the virus, the adjacent city is too. We hope that there will be very positive results across the country by June 2020, "he said.
Asked about the recent vaccination campaign in 11 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the growing number of cases of poliomyelitis in the province, Mr. Atta replied that 633,534 of the 661,110 children had been vaccinated – 95.8%.
The campaign started on July 15th and ended on July 19th, with two days of catching up.
"It's a very good development for us," said Atta. He added that previous campaigns had claimed that nearly 100% of children had been vaccinated. "However, we observed 10 refusals of 10% in Swabi and Swat, 5.7% in Torghar, 13% in Buner and 10.9% in the district of Haripur".
He said that the polio program contained data on refusals and that these children would be targeted during the next immunization campaign.
He added that the Bannu wastewater had not been tested positive for poliovirus, but that the vaccine was not present either, "which shows that it is necessary to focus more."
A total of 45 polio cases were confirmed this year in the country, compared to 12 in 2018 and 8 in 2017. Of these, 35 were reported in KP and its tribal districts, five in Punjab, three in Sindh and two in in Baluchistan.
Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious disease caused by poliovirus that mainly affects children under five. It invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis or even death. Although poliomyelitis can not be cured, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from the disease.
Whenever a child under five is vaccinated, its protection against the virus increases. Repeated vaccinations have protected millions of children from polio, allowing almost every country in the world to get rid of polio.
Posted in Dawn, July 21, 2019
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