Health officers in London will administer polio booster vaccines after the virus was detected in city’s sewage samples.
According to the country’s Health Ministry, in north and east London, type-2 vaccine-derived polio virus was found and therefore children between ages one and nine years would be offered targeted booster vaccine doses.
It also said that there was found some level of transmission of the virus in boroughs, that could extend to adjacent areas. UK reported the last case of polio in 1984.
Although no confirmed cases of polio virus were found but increasing number of sewage plants have been found to have it in London; the first one was found at east London treatment works earlier this year.
At present the wild variant of polio virus, that is only found in two countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan.
According to polio eradication experts, there may be localized spread of polio virus in London that would most likely be present in the individuals not up to date with polio immunizations.
Vanessa Saliba, consultant epidemiologist at UK Health Security Agency, has said that the risk gets low when majority of population is fully vaccinated. She also added that the areas with polio virus transmission have the lowest infection rates and because of this, the spreading virus in these communities has put the not-fully vaccinated at greater risks.
