Recently, more and more polio cases are becoming public. Experts are extremely concerned.
London/Rockland County – After in the sewage of Great Britain When polio pathogens were found in the capital, London, the Ministry of Health launched a vaccination campaign against the disease, also known as polio. A million children should therefore, similar to that of corona is the case, receive a booster vaccination. According to the ministry, this is recommended for children between the ages of one and nine.
The authorities in London have so far not been able to register any new cases of infection. However, the detection of the pathogens in various sewage treatment plants indicated “that there is a certain degree of virus transmission in these districts that can spread to adjacent areas,” the ministry said. The polio expert Kathlene O’Reilly fears “a local spread of the polio virus”. In particular, people with missing or incomplete immunization are most likely to be affected. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the polio vaccination rate in London is just under 87 percent – lower than in the rest of the country.
Polio: First case in the USA in almost a decade – infection probably due to the oral vaccination
In the United States recently reported the first polio case in nearly a decade. Doctors in the affected district are called on to be vigilant for possible further infections. Unvaccinated residents in Rockland County, about 50 kilometers north of Manhattan, should also urgently get a vaccine.
Poliomyelitis – the medical term for polio – was common around the world until the 1950s. After a vaccine was found, the disease was eradicated from most regions of the world. The last case in England was in 1984, and the last infection with the wild type of the virus in the USA was registered in 1979.
The oral vaccine, which contains a weakened type of virus, protects fully vaccinated people from infection. However, faeces in the sewage contaminated with vaccine viruses can lead to infection in other people. Unvaccinated children, especially children under the age of five, can then become seriously ill and develop paralysis.
kind | Enterovirus C |
abbreviation | PV, EV-C |
Health official warns of thousands of polio cases
The case in the USA also apparently goes back to this type of infection. The New York State Health Department said. However, oral vaccinations have not been administered in the USA since 2020. For this reason, the virus must have been imported from abroad, the authority said. According to the BBC, there is a genetic connection with the pathogens in the wastewater from London and Jerusalem.
Rockland County Health Officer Patricia Schnabel Ruppert warned in an interview with BBC that there could be hundreds or even thousands of undiagnosed polio cases right now. Most cases are asymptomatic or only mildly symptomatic and are therefore often overlooked.
“This is a very serious issue for our global world — it’s not just about New York. We all have to make sure that the entire population is properly vaccinated,” said the expert. (tk/AFP)
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