Traces of a form of polio found in London

Traces of a vaccine-derived form of polio have been found in sewage samples taken from a London sewage treatment plant, the World Health Organization and British authorities announced on Wednesday (June 22) .

Read alsoPolio, smallpox, tetanus: vaccinators must be accepted by populations

«It is important to note that the virus was isolated only from environmental samples – no associated cases of paralysis were detected“Said the WHO in a press release. The WHO considersimportant that all countries, especially those with a high volume of travel and contact with polio-affected countries and areas, strengthen surveillance to rapidly detect any new virus importation and facilitate rapid response».

959 confirmed cases in 2020

According to the WHO,any form of poliovirus, wherever found, poses a threat to children everywhere“. Wild poliovirus is the best known form of poliovirus. There is another form of poliovirus that can spread within communities: circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus, or cVDPV. Although cVDPVs are rare, they have become more common in recent years due to low vaccination rates in some communities.

Circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses type 2 (cVDPV2) are the most prevalent, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a public-private partnership led by national governments with six major partners including the WHO. 959 cases were confirmed worldwide in 2020.

The British health security agency said on Wednesday that the “isolateshad been found “in multiple samples of sewage taken from a London sewage treatment plant between February and June. This station covers a wide area in the north and east of the British capital, covering a population of nearly 4 million.

Genetically linked isolates

In recent years, an average of 1-3 poliovirus isolates per year have been detected in sewage samples in the UK. But these isolates were unrelated. In this case, says the British health security agency, “the isolates (…) are genetically linked“, making it necessary to study the transmission of this virus in North East London.

According to UK authorities, the most likely scenario is that a recently vaccinated individual entered the UK before February from a country where oral polio vaccine (OPV) has been used in vaccination campaigns.

Read alsoIn Papua New Guinea, the victorious war against polio

While the UK stopped using OPV in 2004, several countries, including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, have continued to use OPV containing type 2 virus to control outbreaks. Poliomyelitis is a highly contagious disease that invades the nervous system and can cause permanent paralysis.

–