Parents of young children are being urged to check that their polio vaccines are up to date, as some may have missed out due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Polio was eradicated in Britain in 2003, but the UK Health Security Agency have found the virus in sewage samples in London, collected from the London Beckton Sewage Treatment Works, which serves around four million people in north and east London. Although it is normal for the virus to be picked up as isolated cases and not detected again, experts have raised the alarm after several genetically-linked viruses were found in samples between February and May.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is now investigating to establish if the virus is spreading to others in the community. The virus can cause paralysis in rare cases and can be deadly.
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The risk to the general public is extremely low, and although no cases have been detected in Liverpool, the city's lower rates of uptake for polio vaccines mean we are exposed to a real threat of local outbreaks, according to Liverpool City Council.
The UK was declared polio-free in 2003 due to high levels of vaccine coverage, however in the last few years, the uptake of childhood immunisations including polio-containing vaccines has fallen. Parents are being urged to check their Red Book to check that their young children are up to date with their polio vaccinations.
They should contact their GP surgery to book a vaccination, if they aren’t fully up to date. Routine vaccinations give children the best protection from infectious diseases like polio and measles.
Protection from polio is included in the 6-in-1 vaccine which is given to babies when they're 8, 12 and 16 weeks old. A booster of a polio containing vaccine is also given before children start school and as part of their teenage booster when they are 14.
Uptake of the baby immunisations has always been very high in Liverpool, but due to the pandemic, uptake of the routine 6-in-1 vaccine for babies fell to 88% in 2020/21, down 7% from 2017/18, and lower than the national average of 92%.
Provisional figures for 2021/22 show a further decline to around 85%. Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, Cllr Frazer Lake said “Most people in Liverpool are protected against polio from vaccination in childhood, but some children may have missed out on getting vaccinated due to the pandemic.
"I urge people to check that their families are up to date with all the vaccinations they need, to protect them from serious diseases.”
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