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The virus that causes polio has changed in sewage samples in London. This would be a confusing number of models. However, the disease – especially common in the 1950s – has been eradicated from the UK since 2003.
ltoSource: The Guardian, BBC
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says the virus may have been imported from London. Scientists believe someone abroad has been vaccinated with a live oral polio vaccine that has not been used in the UK since 2004.
In rare cases, the virus’s form can then be transmitted to others and converted into “vaccine-acquired” polio. Although the virus is weaker than the original or “wild” form of the disease, it can still cause serious illness, including freezing in unvaccinated people.
A cluster for the first time
According to the agency, the risk is low, but parents need to make sure their children are fully vaccinated against the disease. “The vast majority of people in the UK will be protected from the vaccine in childhood, but in some communities with low vaccine coverage, individuals may continue to be at risk,” said Dr. Vanessa Saliba, UKHSA Consultant Epidemiologist.
Polio drops are given to children three times before the age of one and then again at the age of three and fourteen. Vaccine coverage of the first three doses in London is about 86%, well below the target, while in the rest of the UK it is more than 92%.
A small number of polio virus samples are detected in sewage surveillance each year, but this is the first time that a collection of genetically related samples has been repeated for several months. According to health officials, this indicates the spread of the disease among close relatives in London. But no real cases of polio have been identified so far, and no reports of rare but serious symptoms. BBC.
