British health authorities are on alert due to the polio virus

So far no case of an infected person has been identified, but traces of the virus have been found in the London sewers. According to the authorities, the majority of the population is vaccinated

British health authorities issued an alert after traces of poliovirus, a disease declared eradicated in the United Kingdom in 2003, were discovered in the London sewers.

The UK Health and Safety Agency (UKHSA) reported that the virus was detected in samples taken between February and June at the Becton Sewerage Station, which serves around four million people in the north and east of the capital.

The discovery of this polio virus “indicates that there is likely to be some spread among closely related individuals in north and east London”, says UKHSA, although it has not yet identified any case of a person infected with the virus. It is only found in the United Kingdom.

Until now it has been “normal” to find one to three cases per year, especially because of people who have been vaccinated abroad with oral vaccines made with the live virus that can leave traces in the stool.

But this time the samples point to a virus that has continued to evolve and is now classified as a “vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2”, which can cause severe symptoms, such as paralysis, in unvaccinated people.

According to the authorities, the majority of the population was immunized during childhood from the disease, but there are some societies with a low degree of vaccination, where the risk of infection is greater, so we urge people to refer to the bulletins and update the vaccines. .

According to the BBC, only 86% of Londoners receive the three doses compared to more than 92% in the rest of the UK.

The health agency believes the virus may have arrived in the UK earlier this year from a person vaccinated abroad, possibly in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Nigeria, and that that person may have infected other individuals.

The United States Health Services Authority (UKHSA) urged doctors and healthcare professionals to “widely investigate and report any suspected cases of acute flaccid paralysis” that cannot be explained by non-infectious causes.

It is also calling for health centers to verify that patients have received polio vaccines, as well as placing special emphasis on immunization for “new immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees.”

Polio is an incurable infectious disease that mainly affects children under the age of five and can only be prevented with a vaccine.

In some cases, it can cause limb paralysis.

The virus spreads easily when an infected person coughs or sneezes, and it can also be spread through food or water that has been in contact with an infected person’s feces.

The last case of polio was recorded in the United Kingdom in 1984 and the virus was declared eradicated in the country in 2003.

Although the polio virus has been eliminated from most parts of the world thanks to a massive vaccination programme, poliovirus is still found mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.