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PThere is an increase in the number of poliomyelitis cases in Akistan. This year, the number of polio cases was almost four times higher than in 2018, with health officials admitting that vaccination rates had been falsely recorded.
The latest government figures show that Pakistan has witnessed 45 cases of this deadly disease this year, its record since 2015, up from 12 only last year.
The increase in the number of cases is expected to continue during the summer monsoon and will come after scientists warn that the global fight against the disease, which has lasted for 31 years, is at a standstill.
While the wild virus has been declared defeated everywhere except in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, the vaccine itself is also a breeding stock in other parts of the world. These vaccine-derived cases occur when the weakened live virus used in oral polio vaccine mutates and regains its virulence. One such case was discovered in China earlier this month.
Babar Atta, Prime Minister Imran Khan's special adviser on polio, said officials had previously claimed vaccination rates well above 95 percent, which should be enough to eradicate the virus in the wild.
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