All children aged 1 to 9 in London will receive a booster vaccine against the polio virus to limit and contain the spread of the outbreak in the capital It is supposed to be
According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), 116 vaccine-like poliovirus samples were detected in sewage in London's 8th Ward between February and July 2022 . Up to three samples are typically seen each year inUnited Kingdom.
The UKHSA noted that only a handful of virus samples acquired enough mutations to be classified as vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV2), which is considered "wild" polio. As inparalysis in unvaccinated individuals.
But as the virus now spreads to parts of London, authorities are offering vaccination booster jabs to all children from her 1-year-old to her 9-year-old in the capital. decided. The NHS hopes to complete the rollout within the next four days. up to 6 weeks.
"With no reported cases of polio, the risk is low for the majority of the fully vaccinated population," said UKHSA consultant epidemiologist Dr Vanessa Saliba.
``However, we know that vaccination coverage is lowest in the areas of London where the polio virus is transmitted. This is why it puts uninsured residents at greater risk.”
Authorities have begun offering inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) boosters in areas of the capital where the virus is transmitted and where uptake is low. To do.
According to UKHSA, at least one positive poliovirus sample has been confirmed in Burnet, Brent, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest.
London has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. Her 71.4% of children under the age of 5 are fully protected from the virus. In some wards, the coverage rate is as low as 54.2%.
Polio immunization is given at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of the NHS childhood routine immunization as part of the 6-in-1 vaccine. Boosters are provided for her 3 year old and her 14 year old.
Jane Clegg, her NHS chief nurse in London, said: She provides children from 1 year old to 9 years old with additional doses to ensure maximum protection from the virus.
"We are already reaching out to parents and caregivers of children who do not receive routine immunizations. They are now booking catch-up appointments for GP surgery. You can book your child's immunization status, the Red Book.”
People who are not fully immunized are more susceptible to symptomatic infections. There have been no cases of paralytic polio in the UK, but UKHSA officials fear this could change if the virus is allowed to spread further in low-coverage boroughs within London.
New York, similarly grappling with its own outbreak, announced earlier this month that an unvaccinated adult contracted the virus and was paralyzed.
The UKHSA said the case was genetically linked to a poliovirus sample found in London. However, the transmission route is unknown, and it is impossible to determine where the virus first emerged. A large number of poliovirus cases have also been detected in Israel.
People vaccinated with the live oral polio vaccine (OPV), which has not been used in the UK since 2004, can temporarily shed vaccine-like poliovirus traces in their faeces.
Samples of this kind are found in UK sewage up to three times a year, probably from people inoculated abroad, and considered normal, UKHSA said.
} However, virus samples discovered earlier this year in the London Beckon sewers, covering four million people in the northeast of the capital, appear to be related and share mutations, suggesting that the virus has spread and evolved. suggests that there are
This type of poliovirus — VDPV2 — can cause serious illness, including paralysis, in unvaccinated people, as seen in New York.
The recent outbreak in the UK was likely triggered after a person vaccinated for her OPV abroad began shedding virus in London. From there, it may have spread within a single family before becoming more widely transmitted throughout the community.
UKHSA has already stepped up sewage monitoring to assess the extent of the spread of the virus in London, working with the Medicines Regulatory Authority.
Ten to 15 sites will be set up nationwide to determine if the poliovirus is spreading outside London.
The last case of wild polio infected in the UK was confirmed in 1984, and the UK was declared virus-free in 2003. Afghanistan and Pakistan are her two only countries in the world where infections are still classified as polio. Endemic