All children between the ages of one and nine living in London will be offered a polio booster shot after the virus was detected in sewage in the British capital, the government announced on Wednesday.
In June, authorities announced that they had detected traces of a form of polio derived from a vaccine strain at a sewage treatment plant in northeast London. Since then, the virus, eradicated in the United Kingdom in 2003, has been detected in eight districts of the capital, with a “genetic diversity” that suggests “transmission of the virus”, according to the health services.
“The risk is low for the population”
“No one has been diagnosed with the virus and the risk to the population is low,” Health Minister Steve Barclay said in a statement. However, it has announced that all children between one and nine years of age will be offered an additional booster dose to the initial dose already administered, thus aligning with the usual practice in other countries, “to guarantee that they have the best possible protection “.
Poliomyelitis, which primarily affects children, is a highly contagious disease that invades the nervous system and can cause permanent paralysis.
Wild poliovirus is the best known form of poliovirus. Another form, “circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus,” or cVDPV, has become more common in recent years due to low vaccination rates in some communities.
New case of polio detected in New York
In July, the United States recorded its first case of polio in nearly a decade, in New York state. For fear of other cases, the authorities recommend that children and adults get vaccinated.
The British health agency said it was “working closely” with authorities in New York, but also with those in Israel, to study possible links between the “recent incidents” reported.
Source: BFM TV
