ISLAMABAD: The National Institute of Health admitted 1,142 children under the age of five, with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) during the last three-and-a-half months of the year.

AFP is a condition in which upper or lower part of the body stops working. If lower part stops working child becomes unable to walk and if upper part of the body is paralysed children have to be put on the ventilator because their lungs stop functioning.

According to a document, available with Dawn, in January 360 samples were received by the lab for AFP for analysis to identify the reason for paralysis. In February 354 samples were recived, in March 410 and in the first 13 days of April 18 samples from AFP patients were received.

The document shows that out of 1,142 children, 21 were paralysed because of polio virus and 1,121 children were paralysed because of other reasons.

An official of lab, requesting anonymity, said in cases of a child becoming paralysed, a large number of people do not visit the hospital and start treatment of black magic and visiting quacks because in most of the AFP cases a child sleeps one night and wakes up paralysed. Parents find it hard to believe that the sudden paralysis is caused by a disease.

“Despite this, NIH gets hundreds of samples for analysis to identify reasons for AFP,” he said.

Professor Javed Akram, who has published a number of papers on AFP, said paralysis occurred as a result of a viral infection which attacked the spinal cord.

“The most common disease is Guillain-Barré (GB) Syndrome in which virus attacks the spinal cord and the person affected with it is paralysed. Sometimes paralysis can occur because of tuberculosis, radiation therapy and some other infection which damage antibodies,” he said.

“Although GB Syndrome is very common but the most lethal virus is Polio because there is no cure if it once attacks the body. There is cure for the other causes of AFP if treatment starts in time,” he said.

In response to a question Dr Akram said that in prominent government hospitals a facility of plasmapheresis is provided with the support of a non-governmental organisation to provide antibodies to patient.

During plasmapheresis, blood (which consists of blood cells and a clear liquid called plasma) is initially taken out of the body through a needle or previously implanted catheter. Plasma is then removed from the blood by a cell separator.

Khalid Mehmood Zia, a social activist who has been providing facility of plasmapheresis in seven government hospitals for the last 25 years, said every patient of AFP needs four plasmapheresis and around 900 patients get the treatment every year through his organisation.

“A decade ago very few AFP patients were brought to the hospitals but now hospitals like Pims recieve patients of AFP almost every day,” he said.

A patient of GB Syndrome, Meraj Khalid, told Dawn that in 2010 he was onboard an airplane when suddenly his body went into paralysis. When the plane landed in Saudi Arabia he was shifted to hospital.

“After some tests it was diagnosed that the reason was GB Syndrome but the diagnosis took some time. After a treatment of a few days I was sent to Pakistan but I remained on wheelchair for the next two years,” he said.

“I am better now but still taking medicines. I believe if treatment had started earlier, I wouldn’t have had to suffer this much,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play