You may also be interested
[EN VIDÉO] Leishmaniasis, an emerging and formidable disease Leishmaniasis is an infectious disease transmitted by sandflies, flies that feed on blood. Once declared, it causes sometimes fatal cutaneous or visceral affections. Gérald Spaeth, Research Director of the Molecular Parasitology and Signaling Unit at the Institut Pasteur tells us more during this interview.
Identifications of the virus poliomyelitis multiply in the London sewers. According Reuters agency, the presence of 116 polioviruses has been confirmed in 19 districts of the English capital since the beginning of the year. If no one has declared polio to date, the UK health authorities (UKSHA) are taking the lead to prevent this from happening, as it does in the United States. A vast vaccination campaign has therefore just been launched in London, aimed at children aged 1 to 9 years. The vaccination coverage varies by neighborhood in the city, and sometimes falls below the 95% needed to control the spread of the virus.
Vaccine-derived strains emerge
The poliovirus strains identified are derived from vaccine against poliomyelitis (OPV) which is no longer distributed in the West, but is still administered in developing countries. ” The poliovirus circulating in London is genetically linked to that identified in the United States and Israel. Further investigations are needed to understand how they are connected, but this shows that this virus has the potential to cause disease, especially in poorly vaccinated communities. says Kathleen O’Reilly, polio expert and member of a WHO polio vaccine task force.
Young English children will be vaccinated with the inactivated form of poliomyelitis vaccine (IPV), which has replaced OPV. ” Vaccination is the best course of action to prevent disease, and the decision for a booster dose is excellent and no different from decisions made by other developed countries. The UK vaccinates against polio with the inactivated vaccine (IPV) for which there is no risk of spreading, and which is very safe concludes Dr. O’Reilly.
WHO on alert after polio virus detected in London
Article published on June 23, 2022 by Julie Kern
A poliomyelitis virus, a disease eradicated since 1999, was identified several times in the sewers of a district in north-east London between February and June 2022. The strain, which derives from the vaccine, is the subject of all the attentions of the WHO and the English health authorities. Is there a risk of poliomyelitis making a comeback?
London’s sewers contain traces of a disease that has been eradicated from most countries in the world, poliomyelitis. On June 22, 2022, British health authorities, the UK Heath Security Agency (UKHSA), announced that they had identified and isolated a type 2 poliovirus from water treated by the sewage treatment plant in Beckton, a district in north-east London.
It is not one of the “wild” poliovirus strains, those which have been eradicated thanks to a worldwide vaccination campaign (the PV1 strain is the only one still in circulation in Afghanistan and Pakistan), but a strain which derives from that used to manufacture said vaccine. This is referred to as vaccine-derived poliovirus, or VDPV. In this case, it is specifically a poliovirus derived from the poliovirus type 2 strain, or VDPV2.
A poliovirus isolated several times
This is not the first time that health authorities have identified a VDPV in waste. Sometimes people are vaccinated against poliomyelitis abroad and then return to England. The faeces of vaccinated people contain some virus which ends up in the sewers. ” As part of routine surveillance, it is normal for 1 to 3 polioviruses “vaccine-like” are detected each year in wastewater samples in the UK, but these are still one-time finds that have subsequently gone undetected “, Explain UKHSA in its press release.
What is abnormal here is that the virus was isolated twice, once in February 2022 and a second time in May 2022, at the Beckton site. Alerted, WHO also shared information. According to her, the strain identified today has a link phylogenetic with that collected in February and May 2022.
The return of poliomyelitis?
This detection worries the health authorities because it could be the sign of the transmission of the poliovirus between close individuals in the district of Beckton. So far, the virus has only been detected in environmental samples. No human samples have tested positive for this virus and no paralysis — symptom typical of poliomyelitis — was identified. The WHO specifies that the criteria necessary to certify the effective circulation of the poliovirus have not been met to date.
The vast majority of people in England, and around the world, are vaccinated against poliomyelitis, so there is little risk of the disease coming back. UKSHA scientists consider the risk to public health to be very low, but still advise parents to check their children’s health records, as vaccination coverage tends to be lower in children.
Interested in what you just read?