Children sickened in Pakistan after polio vaccinations
Posted April 22, 2019 6:34 am.
Last Updated April 22, 2019 7:05 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistani officials say hundreds of school children have been taken to hospitals complaining of nausea and vomiting after being given polio vaccinations.
They say angry family members responded by storming a local health facility in Peshawar on Monday and setting it ablaze.
The incident deals another blow to efforts to eradicate the disease, which have been hindered by widespread distrust in some areas. Islamic extremists have targeted polio workers and stoke conspiracy theories that the vaccinations are part of a Western plot to sterilize Muslims.
Pakistan, neighbouring Afghanistan and Nigeria are the only three countries where polio is still endemic.
The Associated Press
