Polio vaccine offered to London children as virus spreads

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London children offered polio booster vaccine as more virus detected

The Tower of London is lit up purple with the slogan 'End Polio Now' in 2021. Photo: Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty Image Children in London were offered booster doses of the Wednesday after discovered more virus samples throughout the city. The big picture: Poliovirus has been recently detected in , prompting health officials to act in order to curb the spread. Driving the news: The said it had discovered a positive sample of the poliovirus in eight boroughs throughout London suggesting a level of spread. No specific cases were identified. said Wednesday that all children in London 1-9 years old should get a polio vaccine booster dose now to stay protected."This will ensure a high level of protection from paralysis and help reduce further spread of the virus," UKHSA said. Be smart: The risk for paralytic polio across the U.K. remains low due to high vaccination numbers, the UKHSA said. State of play: The levels of spread in London are a hint "that there is some level of virus transmission in these boroughs which may extend to the adjacent areas," UKSHA said. "This suggests that transmission has gone beyond a close network of a few individuals." Flashback: U.K. health officials discovered polio samples in sewage for the first time in nearly 20 years back at the end of June, Officials said this meant there was likely a spread of a "vaccine-derived" polio virus between close contacts in London.In rare cases, the live polio virus in an oral vaccine can mutate and cause a new outbreak, . Meanwhile, New York health officials confirmed the in the United States in almost a decade. Officials urged Go deeper ...

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