Children were offered polio vaccines following the detection of polio virus in the London sewage. The UK health authorities announced the virus’ return on Wednesday.
All children aged one to nine will be offered polio boosters to achieve targeted immunisation, the UK Joint Committee said. According to the UK Office for National Statistics, almost one million children currently reside in the UK capital city.
The UK Health Security Agency(UKHSA) announced following the detection that vaccination will ensure protection and reduce further spread of the virus. The UKSHA also isolated 116 viruses in 19 London sewage samples between February and July.
The samples were divided into two categories; the vaccine-like virus and the samples that showed mutations were classified as “vaccine-derived polio virus.” The mutated virus is deemed to be more dangerous to unvaccinated individuals as wild polio may lead to cases of paralysis. This is also the main reason why authorities are stressing vaccinations as a precautionary measure.
The area where most of the viruses are being transmitted is known to have low vaccination rates, Dr. Vanessa Saliba, a consultant at UKHSA said.
On the brighter side, till now no actual cases of polio have been reported and as the majority of the population is already vaccinated, the risk is low.
People on Twitter are criticising the UK government for the virus breakout:
Vaccination is the best solution.
There is no cure for polio. That’s why the phrase “Precaution is the best cure” really rings true for this particular case. Poliovirus is an enterovirus. Polio was once considered the most dangerous disease in the world. Dr. Jonas Salk was the one who developed the vaccine for the dreaded disease and following the testing in 1954, polio had been gradually vanishing from several countries.
But somehow, polio is making its way back into the turgid canals of developed nations like the USA and the UK. For the past few months, polio has been detected in both the behemoth nations, and it’s bringing the same fear back from the past.
Symptoms of the Polio Virus
According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms of polio for 1 in 4 people would be relatively similar to seasonal flu. It includes sore throats, fatigue, nausea, stomach aches, and headaches. But 1 in 200 people will get handed the short end of the stick. They will most likely develop more serious symptoms like infections in vital organs like the brain or spinal cord. Numbness in the lower limbs and paralysis
UK authorities are hoping to complete the first batch rollout within the next four weeks.
The capital city also lags behind the rest of the country in vaccinations. On the other side of the ocean, New York is also currently grappling with the dreaded disease. An adult New York citizen is also reported to have caught the virus.
Many people’s lives have been ruined by the disease from both long and short-term symptoms. People with paralysis in their legs often ended up being homeless and to be abandoned by their families.
India and Polio
In India, the fight against polio has been long and difficult. Finally, on March 27, 2014, India was declared polio free by the World Health Organization (WHO).
In 1994, India first launched the Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme. This was a difficult time as India was responsible for almost 60% of the world’s polio cases. India’s polio fight continued for at least two decades. The last polio case registered was in 2011.
The major reasons for India’s win were the mass vaccination process and the efforts made by both the government and the people of India to get rid of polio.
A virus-like polio has no place to exist in the modern world. It is expected that the health authorities and the government of the U.K. will soon eradicate the dreaded disease from their nation. Immunisation in the UK is already undergoing major reforms to fight off the virus.
