Britain declares national incident after polio virus found in London

No cases of polio have been identified so far, but health officials have urged those who are not fully immunized to get get vaccinated immediately.

UK health authorities have declared a national incident after finding evidence suggesting local spread of poliovirus in London.

Although health authorities have indicated that the use of the term "national incident" has been used to describe the scope of the problem, no cases of poliomyelitis have been identified so far and the risk for the public is low. But health authorities have urged anyone who is not fully immune to poliovirus, especially young children, to get vaccinated immediately. , but in some communities where vaccination coverage is low, individuals may remain at risk,” said Dr Vanessa Saliba, consultant epidemiologist for the UK Health Security Agency.

The last case of polio in Britain was in 1984 and the country was declared polio-free in 2003. Before the introduction of the polio vaccine, outbreaks were common in Britain, with up to 8,000 cases of paralysis reported annually.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Routine sewage monitoring in the country detects poliovirus once or twice a year, but between February and May, officials have identified the virus in several samples taken in London, according to Dr. Shahin Huseynov, technical officer for the World Health Organization's vaccine-preventable diseases and ion vaccination program in Europe.

L Genetic analysis suggests the samples have a common origin, most likely someone who traveled to the country around New Year's Day, Dr Huseynov said. The last four samples collected appear to have evolved since this initial introduction, likely in unvaccinated children.

"The significance of this finding is that even in well-developed countries , countries where routine immunization coverage is quite high, it is still important to ensure that all children have access to vaccines,” he said.

Polio is most often spread by an infected person who does not wash their hands properly and then touches food or water ingested by which than another. The virus grows in the intestine and emerges in the feces of infected people. In up to 1% of patients, the virus can infect the spine and cause paralysis.

"Most of the disease is asymptomatic, it is only about one in 500 children who are actually paralyzed,” said Dr David Heymann, an infectious disease expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who previously led WHO's polio eradication programme. p>

In Britain, vaccination against poliomyelitis is carried out with injected inactivated poliovirus, which cannot be excreted through faeces. But some countries around the world rely on a Oral polio vaccine that contains a live, weakened version of the virus.Immune people can briefly shed this virus in their feces, which can then end up in sewage.

This is what those responsible for the sa nté think it happened in this case. The virus in the collected samples came from a type of oral polio vaccine used to contain outbreaks, according to Dr Huseynov.

In recent months, this type of vaccine has only been used in Afghanistan, Pakistan and some countries in the Middle East and Africa, a- he said.

Wild poliovirus has been eliminated from every country in the world except Afghanistan and Pakistan. But vaccine-derived polio continues to cause small outbreaks, especially in communities with low vaccination coverage.

"Polio persists in some of the most poor of the world. Until it is eradicated worldwide, the risk of importation and spread in the UK and elsewhere...