Edinburgh University's Devi Sridhar has calmed the public's fears over the latest discovery of polio in the UK.
The professor and chair of global public health at the university has said that the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) detecting polio in sewage in London is not a cause for concern in the same way that Covid-19 was.
She adds that the priority for those living in the UK is to continue to ensure that their children are given their polio vaccinations and for the relevant authorities to track down the cases to lessen the impact of transmission.
Sridhar goes on to explain that healthcare professionals have found that the latest polio strain had come from an oral polio vaccine which uses “live, non-infective, non-virulent polio virus for their inoculations.”
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On this, she wrote in the Guardian : “The latest screening and analysis with metagenomics indicates that this polio strain is derived from the oral polio vaccine (OPV) still used in some parts of the world.
“Some countries use live, non-infective, non-virulent polio virus for their inoculations, which can evolve to become infectious in some cases.
“So we now know there has been introduction and then transmission of one of these strains within London – though the exact cases have yet to be identified.”
She continued: “In the UK we have a safe and incredibly effective vaccine for polio, commonly referred to as IPV.
“This is administered as a jab by a trained medical professional. IPV is part of the standard childhood immunisation programme and, with all four doses, is 99-100% effective.
“There is no live virus in this vaccine.”
On how best to get a hold on the situation, Sridhar recommended that vaccinations continue to be administered and for the population to increase care in their personal hygiene.
She said: “For this outbreak, the key steps are for public health teams to track down these cases in London to limit spread and stop further transmission, and for parents to be encouraged to check their children are vaccinated against polio.
“Vaccination is the best protection, but good hygiene measures are important too: polio is introduced into the body through the mouth and often from faeces (poo).
“Recent outbreaks of measles and mumps in Britain reveal how many children have not had their routine childhood jabs, and how complacency over vaccination has taken hold as memory of diseases such as whooping cough and tetanus fades.”
The professor adds that it is only natural for people to worry about the spread of polio in the UK as the majority of the population has been introduced to global health through Covid-19.
Although she says that people should not get carried with the news of monkeypox and polio spreading as these are viruses we understand and have treatments for, whereas Covid-19 was an unknown.
So those living in the UK need not fear that they will be trapped in another lockdown or forced to wear masks in order to stop the spread of either virus.
Those measures were only taken during the coronavirus pandemic due to the threat of “mass deaths.”
On measures being taken to try to tackle polio in places such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and sub-Saharan Africa, she added: “The emergence of polio in London also reminds us of the irreducibly global nature of health.
“Because of the relatively higher cost of IPV, and the need for decent health systems (including staff and equipment) to administer it, the live oral vaccine is still used in many places.
“Virus-shedding from someone recently vaccinated can spread to others. Mutations during transmission among unvaccinated individuals can result in a vaccine-derived poliovirus which can have the same negative impact as wild polio (ie paralysis).
“The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is now working to replace the use of OPV, given its risks, with at least one dose of IPV.
“While wild poliovirus is endemic in just Afghanistan and Pakistan, vaccine-derived polio cases are regularly identified in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the world.
“Contending with multiple infectious diseases at the same time is normal in most parts of the world.
“Cholera, plague, malaria and measles still circulate and cause illness and death, despite major global health efforts to support governments in managing them.”
Sridhar says that the recent polio was most likely detected due to the efforts of local authorities to pick up on virus outbreaks in the aftermath of the pandemic.
But adds that more outbreaks and mutations may become more commonplace due to issues relating to more global travel, animals living in close proximity to humans, deforestation and the overall sanitary conditions of industries like factory farming.
She ended on a positive note however and added that humans have handled polo outbreaks successfully before and that she backs us to do the same again.
She said: “Hearing the news from London feels like a step backwards given how close the entire world has been to global polio eradication in recent years; however, we have managed polio outbreaks before, and it will be controlled again.
“The history of humanity is the history of various pathogens trying to disable and kill us – and equally the history of scientific and public health advances, and human ingenuity in staying ahead of them.
“Some humility in the face of infectious diseases and recognition of our global interdependence are always needed.”
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