Nearly one million children under the age of 10 in London will receive an urgent polio booster vaccine after health officials confirmed the spread of the virus that causes paralysis.
In the first polio epidemic in the United Kingdom in more than four decades, the virus has been identified more than 100 times in sewage water in eight boroughs in the city’s north and northeast.
In London, one million youngsters will receive a polio booster immunization.
Although the virus is known to cause paralysis in up to one in every 100 infected individuals, young children are at a greater risk.
In June, health officials declared a national incident after discovering a viral fragment believed to be related to a single residence in northeast London in February.
Today, however, the UK Health Security Agency stated that it has now been detected 116 times in the capital, where vaccination rates among children in some areas are as low as 55%.
Doctors have not yet diagnosed anyone with the virus, but specialists fear it is spreading unchecked in London due to its recurring detection in the wastewater.
The risk to the public is minimal, according to health officials, because the majority of people are already protected by childhood vaccines.
In the boroughs where the virus is spreading, however, vaccination rates are among the lowest in the country: Barnet, Brent, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, and Waltham Forest.
The UKHSA stated that the level of the virus detected and the diversity of the samples indicate that the virus is propagating in the public and has spread beyond a small network of persons.
It was revealed that 900,000 children between the ages of one and nine in Greater London will receive a booster dose of poliovirus vaccination within the next month to strengthen protection against paralysis and decrease the spread of the disease.
In addition to the polio samples identified in eight municipalities, health officials detected lesser quantities of the virus in the sewage of adjacent boroughs.
It is now unclear whether this indicates that the virus has spread to more locations or whether affected individuals have simply traveled to other boroughs.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has suggested a quick booster program for children between the ages of one and nine.
It was stated that increased coverage will protect youngsters from becoming infected and paralyzed, as well as increase immunity rates, hence slowing the spread of the virus.
After contracting polio, between one hundred and one-thousand people acquire paralysis, with the majority of instances occurring in young children.
Even if their child’s vaccinations are current, parents have been instructed to accept the offer of a booster “as soon as feasible.”
Before rolling out across London, the campaign will begin in regions where polio has been discovered and vaccination rates are low.
It coincides with the NHS childhood vaccination catch-up campaign, which was launched across London in June to raise immunization rates among adults who missed out on childhood vaccinations.
The NHS presently gives polio immunization as part of a six-in-one inoculation given to infants at eight, twelve, and sixteen weeks of age.
The four-in-one booster is administered to children before they begin school, and the three-in-one booster is administered to adolescents when they reach the age of 14. To be fully immunized against polio, all injections are required.
The World Health Organization’s immunization goal for polio is 95%. However, only three regions of England fit this criterion: Rutland, Country Durham, and East Riding.
Nationally, participation is 84.6%. Five of the boroughs where the virus has been detected — Hackney, Camden, Haringey, Enfield, and Islington — have the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, with only 54.7% of children up-to-date by the age of five.
The remaining three boroughs, Waltham Forest, Barnet, and Brent, have among the 30 lowest vaccination rates.
Dr. Vanessa Saliba, the consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA, stated, “There have been no documented cases of polio, and the risk is low for the bulk of the population, which has been properly vaccinated.”
“However, we are aware that the districts of London where the poliovirus is circulating have some of the lowest vaccination rates.” This is why the virus is spreading in these communities and why unvaccinated residents are at increased danger.’
She said, “Parents must ensure that their children are completely immunized for their age.”
Following JCVI recommendations, all children aged one to nine in London must now receive a dose of the polio vaccine, either as a booster dose or to catch up on their routine vaccines.
It will ensure a high level of paralytic protection. This could also prevent the infection from spreading further.
The last instance of polio in the United Kingdom occurred in 1984, and the country was declared polio-free in 2003, although experts uncover a handful of positive samples in sewage each year.
The most recent epidemic has been connected to a sample from Beckton Sewage Works, which in February affected 4 million people in North East London.
The strain of poliovirus that is currently spreading in London is known as vaccine-derived poliovirus, which spreads into the community and evolves to act more like the wild form. It may potentially result in paralysis.
The disease may have been contracted by a traveler from Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Nigeria, where the live oral vaccination is still in use.
Since 2004, when Europe was proclaimed polio-free, the vaccine has not been used in the United Kingdom. It is administered orally via droplets.
The United Kingdom utilizes a polio vaccination containing a version of the virus that cannot cause disease or infect others.
Those who receive the oral version of the vaccine shed a weakened form of polio in their stool.
Teams from the UK Health and Safety Executive (UKHSA) currently conduct weekly sewage tests in London and have increased the number of testing sites in the city and other UK nations.
Jane Clegg, the head nurse for the NHS in London, stated, “While the majority of Londoners are protected against polio, the NHS will soon contact the parents of eligible children ages one to nine to offer them a booster shot to ensure they have optimum protection against the virus.”
“We are already reaching out to parents and guardians of children who aren’t up to date with their normal vaccines; they may make a catch-up appointment with their GP clinic, and anyone unsure of their child’s vaccination status can consult their Red Book.”
When an infected person does not adequately wash their hands after using the restroom and then touches food or water that is consumed by others, polio can be transmitted. Infected coughs and sneezes can potentially spread the virus.
The virus replicates in the colon and is transmitted through feces in vast amounts.
The majority of individuals will be asymptomatic and will fight off the infection without realizing they have it.
A small proportion of people will experience a flu-like sickness that lasts three to twenty-one days and is characterized by fever, sore throat, headache, stomach pain, aching muscles, nausea, and vomiting.
However, it can also affect the nerves in the spine and base of the brain, resulting in hours or days of gradual paralysis of the legs. If the paralysis progresses to the muscles of respiration, it might be fatal.
Brits who suffer paralysis symptoms, such as weak, flaccid, or drooping limbs, particularly the legs, head, and neck, are recommended to seek prompt medical attention.
Some victims recover movement in the weeks and months that follow, but many are left with permanent paralysis.
Steve Barclay, the secretary of state for health, stated that parents and guardians will be “concerned” about the identification of polio in London, even though “no one has been diagnosed with the virus and the danger to the general public is negligible.”
He stated that the deployment will begin in “the most affected boroughs” so that “we can assure they have the best protection possible and limit the likelihood of transmission.”
Mr. Barclay stated, “We are aware that many countries, notably Belgium and Portugal, offer an additional dose as part of their childhood immunization program, and I have accepted the JCVI’s decision, which took into account worldwide data on safety and efficacy.
“Vaccines provide the best protection for children and those around them, therefore I would advise families to ensure they are up-to-date with their usual immunizations and to seek out the polio booster as soon as they are contacted by the NHS.”
The UKHSA is collaborating with health organizations in New York and Israel — where polio is also spreading — as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) to study the connections between the viruses discovered in each nation.
Polio dates back to 1500 B.C., paralyzed Ancient Egyptian pharaohs, and paralyzed thousands of children for decades before being nearly eradicated with a vaccine using a weakened strain of the virus: The disease’s history laid bare
You may be excused for believing that polio is a disease relegated to the past.
The disease that causes paralysis was declared eliminated in the United Kingdom in 2003, and the last domestic outbreak occurred in the 1980s. However, it appears that declining vaccination rates, in part owing to complacency, allowed polio to return decades later.
The sickness has been around since the dawn of human civilization, with the earliest accounts reaching back to ancient Egypt.
However, it wasn’t until the 1800s that epidemics truly took hold.
Millions of Britons recall the destruction inflicted by polio in the early 1950s and why it was one of the most feared ailments. In the middle of the 20th century, a succession of polio outbreaks ravaged the United Kingdom, leaving thousands paralyzed each year.
Mary Berry, the former judge of the Great British Bake Off, was hospitalized at age 13 after having polio, which left her with a twisted spine and a crippled left hand.
Despite being eradicated in the majority of the world, the virus continues to spread in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while regions of Africa experience outbreaks of vaccine-derived strains.
