Polio

U.K. health authorities have said they are urgently investigating a rare polio virus outbreak in sewage samples in London.

"In populations with low vaccine uptake it is possible that the live polio vaccine can spread from one person to another. It is common practice in the U.K. for children to receive an inactivated polio vaccine as part of their routine vaccination program; with three shots given before the age of one and another shot given at ages three and 14. Polio is a rare virus that can occasionally cause serious illness, such as paralysis, in people who are not fully vaccinated. On occasion, it can attack muscles used for breathing, which can be fatal. Generally, those who do become infected with polio display no symptoms, though some can develop a flu-like illness up to three weeks later. A number of waste samples from the Beckton sewage treatment works in Newham, east London tested positive for vaccine-derived polio virus between February and May, the U.K. Health Security Agency said Wednesday.

Explainer: traces in London sewage have led to concern that virus that causes disease could gain foothold in areas with low vaccination rates.

The concern is that the vaccine-derived poliovirus could gain a foothold in areas where polio vaccination rates are low. An oral polio vaccine is used in countries that are in the process of eradicating the disease. This suggests there may be a limited spread of the virus in the area. The UK and many other countries used to use this, but switched in 2004 to an inactivated polio vaccine, which is injected and contains a dead poliovirus that cannot replicate in the body. In a small fraction of cases, between 1 in 100 and 1 in 1,000, the virus damages nerves in the spine and base of the brain. The UK’s last natural polio infection was in 1984 and the country was declared polio-free in 2003.

Scientists in Britain have detected multiple versions of the virus in wastewater. Officials say the risk to the public is extremely low and urge people to ...

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Britain's polio-free status could be at risk for the first time in almost two decades after several samples of vaccine-derived poliovirus were found during ...

The UK has declared a national incident after detecting poliovirus samples in sewage, as health authorities said the disease may be spreading between ...

News originally published on the Global Polio Eradication Initiative website. The Global Polio Laboratory Network (GPLN) has confirmed the isolation of type ...

It is important that all countries, in particular those with a high volume of travel and contact with polio-affected countries and areas, strengthen surveillance in order to rapidly detect any new virus importation and to facilitate a rapid response. Any form of poliovirus anywhere is a threat to children everywhere. It is important to note that the virus has been isolated from environmental samples only – no associated cases of paralysis have been detected.

Health officials in Britain are warning parents to ensure their children have been vaccinated against polio after the virus that causes the disease was ...

The polio vaccine is given to young babies in the U.K. as part of a combination vaccine. The last case of natural polio infection acquired in the U.K. was in 1984. LONDON — Health officials in Britain warned parents Wednesday to ensure their children have been vaccinated against polio after the virus that causes the disease was found in London sewage samples in recent months.

Scientists in Britain have detected multiple versions of the virus in wastewater. Officials say the risk to the public is extremely low and urge people to ...

Here in the U.S., polio immunization is part of the routine vaccination schedule for babies and children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends they receive four doses of the inactivated polio vaccine. The U.K. was declared free of polio in 2003. Last year, the world recorded more than 600 cases of polio. And that's because of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic." So far, there have been no cases of polio detected directly in the U.K. But instead, scientists have discovered the outbreak through an indirect route. From 2019 to 2020, the number of polio cases worldwide almost tripled, NPR reported in April, resulting in more than a thousand known cases spread across nearly 30 countries. Polio causes permanent paralysis in people who are not fully vaccinated in about 5 out of every 1,000 cases. Scientists in England are quickly expanding surveillance of sewage samples to try and pinpoint where the outbreak occurred and whether it's still ongoing so they can stop it with targeted immunization. Polio spreads through the fecal-oral route. Transmission would require a concentration of people who had not yet been vaccinated." So the current hypothesis is that an infected person brought the virus into London and then spread it to others who weren't immunized.

Health officials have declared a national incident after the virus was discovered in sewage samples taken from London between February and May 2022, according ...

“They will be labelled: DTaP/IPV or dTaP/IPV or 6 in 1 or 5 in 1. The polio vaccine is given on the NHS when a child is eight, 12 and 16 weeks old as part of the 6-in-1 vaccine. “Vaccine-derived poliovirus has the potential to spread, particularly in communities where vaccine uptake is lower. However, this drops to just under 90 per cent in London. Teenage boosters are known as Td/IPV or 3 in 1. People are being advised to make sure they and their children are up to date with their polio vaccinations, after the virus was reported to be potentially spreading in the UK for the first time in decades.

"A successful transition of polio assets is essential to sustain a polio-free world, strengthen essential immunization and disease surveillance, and boost the ...

The mission focused on ensuring that essential functions are maintained in Iraq as it transitions out of Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) support. The polio transition process has been designed to build the capacity of the polio workforce to support broader health priorities, including improving essential immunization, disease surveillance and outbreak preparedness and response, in primary health care centres and beyond. The team paid a visit to the Central Public Health Laboratory, the Communicable Disease Control Department and the Integrated Surveillance Department. The team also visited one of Baghdad's primary health care centres to witness first-hand the performance of immunization and other essential health services.

The vaccine-derived poliovirus -- which originates from live attenuated polio viruses contained in oral polio vaccines -- still trigger outbreaks, most recently ...

Traces of type 2 vaccine-derived poliovirus were detected during routine surveillance of sewage in London.

The National Health Service will begin reaching out to parents of children aged under 5 in the capital who are not up to date with their vaccinations, the government said. “In this instance, the isolates identified between February and June 2022 are genetically related. The U.K. health security agency says it normally detects between one and three “poliovirus isolates per year” in sewage but they are normally one-offs and unrelated to each other. Surveillance, vaccination and investment to— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) #EndPolio🌍 is critical, as the #UK's announcement of environmental #poliosamples identified in London sewage reminds us. So far, the polio virus has only been detected in sewage samples but investigations are underway to establish if any community transmission is occurring. There is no cure, but vaccinations since the 1960s, mostly in childhood, have been a game changer allowing many countries to eradicate wild polio.

A. Polio clinical and laboratory surveillance · B. Polio vaccination check and offer · Background and interpretation · Polio immunisation coverage.

The UK is committed to global polio eradication and key to achieving this is maintaining high vaccine coverage (>= 95%) in the routine childhood immunisation programme. It is essential to maintain high uptake at the national, regional and local levels in order to reduce the risk of importations (including of vaccine-like poliovirus) leading to transmission in under-vaccinated communities and paralytic presentations occurring. While the UK stopped using OPV in 2004, several countries, including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria have continued to use OPV containing type 2 virus for outbreak control. This has prompted the need to investigate the extent of transmission of this virus in Northeast London. UKHSA National Polio Guidelines outline public health actions for consideration when one or more vaccine-related poliovirus type 2 [Level 2 (C)] are detected in environmental samples. Vaccine-like type 2 poliovirus (PV2) isolates have been found in multiple sewage samples collected from the London Beckton Sewage Treatment Works between February and June 2022.

An updated edition of a book which shares 29 personal stories of polio survivors in Ireland and their ongoing struggles with the long-term effects of the ...

“Unfortunately, approximately 40% of polio survivors are now living with the late effects of this disease. As a result, we work to address this by distributing essential information to GP’s and other healthcare professionals to ensure PPS is understood.” Fran Brennan, CEO of Polio Survivors Ireland, said: “As we’ve seen with Covid-19, epidemics and pandemics are still a reality that can affect our everyday lives. As well as providing stair lifts, callipers, bespoke footwear, electric scooters and wheelchairs, the organisation helps survivors to access a range of supports. Jackie, born in Dublin in 1957 (features on the cover of the book): “As a result of polio, I have a shorter, thinner and weaker right leg. It was originally commissioned so that the trials and triumphs of those who contracted polio in the 20th century would not be forgotten.

Lord Kamall says the "world-beating" tools used to survey sewage could identify exactly where the virus came from. It comes after the UK Health Security ...

However, this drops to just under 90% in London. Lord Kamall says the "world-beating" tools used to survey sewage could identify exactly where the virus came from. The source of the polio virus discovered in a London sewage works could be narrowed down to a house or street, a health minister has said.

The UK used to use a highly effective oral polio vaccine that came as drops. It has switched to the newer, injectable form. The NHS offers five doses from the ...

However, this is the first time that a genetically-linked cluster has been found repeatedly over a period of months. But that means some is then excreted in poo. This causes paralysis - usually of the legs. A tiny number of samples of the polio virus are detected each year in the UK during sewage surveillance. The last person recorded to have acquired the wild virus in the UK was in 1984. UK health officials say they have detected the virus that causes polio in a concerning number of sewage samples in London.